Wildlife caused $10M in Md. crop losses last year

Associated Press//April 30, 2012//

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ANNAPOLIS — Maryland farmers say wildlife caused an estimated $10 million in crop losses last year.

The estimate was released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture‘s Maryland field office in Annapolis.

Deer were blamed for more than three-quarters of the damage, and groundhogs and geese were blamed for most of the rest. Losses were greatest in north central Maryland, where about $4.3 million in damage was reported, followed by southern Maryland, where farmers reported $3.4 million in losses.

The results were obtained from an annual acreage and production survey. The figures show Maryland farmers spent an estimated $410,000 last year on preventative measures such as fences, repellents and devices to scare away wildlife.

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