Farmers face severe crop losses as barnacle geese devastate fields in Maaninka

Thousands of migrating barnacle geese have stripped fields bare in Maaninka, eastern Finland, leaving farmers concerned about feed shortages for livestock, reports Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

The shift in the geese’s migration route further west has caused extensive damage, with hundreds of hectares of crops destroyed this spring. At Tuovilanlahti on the shores of Lake Maaninkajärvi, farmer Markus Rytkönen’s forage fields—critical for his dairy operation—have been decimated.

“This has been going on day and night for weeks,” Rytkönen said. “They eat anything green, even digging up peas from the soil.” Over 100 hectares of his first-cut grass silage have already been lost. “How will we feed the cattle—or even people? No one can afford losses like this.”

Fellow farmer Niko Mähönen reports similar devastation, with over 100 hectares of his grass crops ruined. This year’s migration is unprecedented in scale, he noted: “Last year there were thousands, but now numbers are two or three times higher.” The damage extends beyond Maaninka, with multiple farms affected.

The financial toll is mounting. “Costs will be enormous—labor, fertilizer, seeds, lost yield,” Mähönen said, doubting state compensation will cover all losses. Fields trampled by geese may not recover, and their droppings risk contaminating silage.

Finland’s government is drafting legislation to allow protective hunting of barnacle geese and cormorants, aiming to pass the bill this spring. Both farmers urge swift action. “We need some way to deter them,” Mähönen said. “Otherwise, how will we cope?”

BirdLife Finland reports the migration continues, with no immediate end in sight.