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FARMING

Marauding boars cause record crop damage

Wild boar in canton Aargau caused a record 780,000 francs ($877,000) worth of damage to crops in 2013.

Marauding boars cause record crop damage
File photo: m.prinke

The damage, up from 425,000 francs the previous year, was primarily due to the cold weather of winter 2012/13 which forced boar to leave the forests and invade farmers' fields, reported Swiss news agency ATS.

The damage caused by wild boar has been a controversial subject in the canton for some years, it reports.

For the last two years the canton has shortened the period of time under which boar are protected from hunters. Now, even young boar are allowed to be shot if they wander outside forests during the protective period.

Last year hunters of the canton shot 1,200 boar, down from 1,600 in 2012.

The authorities have recently invested in infrared tracking devices to help hunters find boar at night.

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FARMING

Shredding of live chicks to be banned in Switzerland from January 2020

The crushing of live male chicks is at the centrepiece of a number of new animal protection regulations to be passed in the new year.

Shredding of live chicks to be banned in Switzerland from January 2020
Photo: Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP

A number of other changes to mass agriculture will also come into effect in January, including tracking sheep and goats, as well as greater restrictions on pesticides and more assistance available to farmers in the instance of drought. 

In industrial farming across the globe, male chicks are typically shredded a day after birth as they do not lay eggs and are of little value in factory farms. 

Although the practice is relatively rare in Switzerland, it will be formally forbidden from January 2020. 

READ: Germany allows the shredding of live chicks to continue

The law does include some exceptions for smaller egg producers, however if male chicks are to be put to death, this must now be done with CO2 gas. 

The Swiss House of Representatives, when passing the law, called the practice “absurd”. 

Technology exists which can determine a chick’s sex just nine days into incubation. Although this is used in the United States, Germany and elsewhere, it is as yet not widespread in Switzerland. 

Pesticide restrictions, helicopters for thirsty cows

The Swiss government has made army helicopters available to transport water for cattle in the instance of drought. 

Switzerland’s central animal trafficking database will now also track sheep and goats, with the animals to be given tracking ear tags. 

Furthermore, there will be restrictions on certain pesticides, with the carcinogenic Chlorothalonil banned from January onwards. 

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