Minnesota Senate hears bills seeking to protect livestock, wolves and producers

For years, the Minnesota Legislature has granted funding to compensate livestock producers for those livestock injured or killed by predators. This year, additional funding is being discussed to compensate for those losses as well as providing avenues to avoid conflict through non-lethal means. Rep. Mary Kunesh, DFL-New Brighton, brought forth S.F. 3226 to the Senate Ag committee on Wednesday, April 8, to support nonlethal prevention work to protect both livestock and wolves. The bill would set aside $45,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $45,000 in fiscal year 2027 from the general fund to the commissioner of agriculture for wolf-livestock conflict prevention grants. Those grants could be used for the purchase of livestock guard dogs and their vet bills, fencing, wolf-deterring lights, alarms and livestock shelters. This type of funding and the same amount was previously approved for 2024 and 2025 fiscal years. Jill Fritz, senior managing director for Wildlife Protection with the Humane ...