Staunton News Leader 01/12/2016 Page : A01

Copyright 2016 Staunton News Leader 01/12/2016 January 12, 2016 10:27 am (GMT +5:00) / Powered by TECNAVIA

Copy Reduced to 69% from original to fit letter page

M OUNT SIDNEY - Leo Tammi hasonly lost one sheep to coyotes in thepast year, a huge difference fromwhat he had seen almost a year be-fore.

In 2015, Tammi said he had lost nearly 100sheep to predators.

Although the coyotes havent disappearedentirely, Tammi said hes changed some meth-ods of operation around on his Mount Sidneyfarm, Shamoka Run Farm.

Theyre still out there, he said. According to the U.S. Department of Agri-

cultures Wildlife Services division, Virginiahas seen a drop in the number of livestock ani-mals killed by coyotes in fiscal 2015.

Between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2015, thestate saw a 24 percent decrease in the recordednumber of sheep killed by coyotes and a 26 per-cent drop in the number of calves taken by thepredators, according to a release from the Vir-ginia Farm Bureau Federation.

What Tammi has done on his farm to help cutdown on predator attacks includes night pen-ning, increased dog guarding and changing hislambing season.

I think that just the fact that these dogs justpatrol ... I think that stalking behavior keeps thepredators at bay, he said.

Tammi will keep some dogs inside all day and

VALLEY FARMING

PHOTOS BY MIKE TRIPP / THE NEWS LEADERHansel keeps watch over the flock, helping to keep the sheep safe from coyotes and other predators. The Great Pyrenees stands nearowner Leo Tammi at Shamoka Run Farm in Mount Sidney on Monday.

Farmer sees lesscoyote kills in 15New techniques discouragepredator attacks on sheepLAURA PETERS LPETERS@NEWSLEADER.COM

A border collie, Hemi rounds up the flock of sheep, following thecommands of owner Leo Tammi at Shamoka Run Farm in Mount Sidney.

Coyote kills on Virginia farms in 2015

218sheep

60calves

24goats

These numbers are still significant, butshow a 24 percent decrease in the num-ber of sheep killed and a 26 percentdrop in the number of calves since July1, 2014 through June 30, 2015.

SOURCE: USDA REPORT

See Livestock, Page 2A

Staunton News Leader 01/12/2016 Page : A02

Copyright 2016 Staunton News Leader 01/12/2016 January 12, 2016 10:26 am (GMT +5:00) / Powered by TECNAVIA

Copy Reduced to 83% from original to fit letter page

others outside, and creates a rotation.Placing his sheep in the barn at night

also has cut down on potential attacks. Night penning has had a huge im-

pact, Tammi said. Whatever measuresyou take, coyotes are very adaptable.They will actually come up into the barnand kill if they have to.

Keeping dogs out guarding the flockat night has added extra security, butTammis flock has also decreased sincelast year. Now with only 300 heads ofsheep compared to 500, hes able to con-trol loss better. Also, shifting lambingseason from spring to fall has allowedfor more control.

With a small flock and a differentbreeding time, Tammi said hes trying toget ahead of the cycle.

The report listed 218 sheep, 60 calvesand 24 goats as verified coyote kills on191Virginia farms in fiscal year 2015. Onaverage, just over three sheep per 191farms were killed by coyote in fiscal2015, according to the USDA report.

There were a total of 512 coyote re-moved on 81 livestock farms with ex-treme predation problems in the state,the release said.

This is tremendous news for ourfarmers, who suffer economic losses aswell as disappointment whenever theyfind a fresh carcass from a coyote kill,said Wilmer Stoneman, Virginia FarmBureau Federation associate director ofgovernmental relations, in a release. Italso shows how effective the coopera-tive control program can be when givenenough financial resources. The budgetfor the Virginia Cooperative CoyoteDamage Control program was expandedwith up to five new part-time employees,

and it clearly made a difference.The cooperative control program be-

tween the USDA and the Virginia De-partment of Agriculture and ConsumerServices was given almost $400,000 for2015 thanks to state and federal funds.

Maintaining or increasing fundingfor this coyote program is a critical issuefor Farm Bureau members as we headinto the 2016 General Assembly budgetbattle, Stoneman said in a release. Wewere fortunate to have more money tospend on this problem in the past year,and we need to keep that funding avail-able.

Programs like the the cooperativecontrol program emphasizes preventionbefore removal. Thats something Tam-mi stands by. If a coyote doesnt need tobe killed, it shouldnt. Some, he said,arent causing problems.

Using methods for preventing coyotekills like predator-resistant fencing,predator frightening devices and live-stock guardian animals should be at-tempted repeatedly before coyotes areto be removed, according to the VirginiaFarm Bureau.

Tammi has increased security frompredators by adding more, tighter andsecured fencing.

We added and strengthened thefence, he said. Our plan is to put someholes in the tight perimeter to create anarea to snare for coyotes.

According to the Virginia Farm Bu-reau, Highland and Wythe counties arethe states biggest problem areas forcoyote kills, with more than 50 losses inthe report period. Along the Interstate 81corridor and farmers in southside coun-ties have also seen predatory devasta-tion.

Tammi says there isnt a sure way toguarantee your flock is safe.

The dogs are out 24/7, they seem towork, he said. But theres no silver bul-let.

MIKE TRIPP/THE NEWS LEADERLeo Tammi of Shamoka Run Farm stands near the flock of sheep after having them rounded upby border collie and moved to where they can eat on turnips put out in the pasture for them onthe farm in Mount Sidney on Monday.

LivestockContinued from Page 1A