INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Farm Bureau (INFB) is offering livestock producers help in dealing with problem black vultures in the state.

INFB has received a statewide depredation permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The farm bureau will distribute sub-permits at no cost to producers who have lost livestock to the vultures. INFB paid the $100 fee to obtain the permit.

Producers may also apply directly to USFWS for a permit and pay the fee themselves. Black vultures are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which requires a federal permit to kill or destroy them.

Farm bureaus in Kentucky and Tennessee have had black vulture depredation programs for several years; Indiana began accepting applications in August. Similar farm bureau programs are available in Arkansas, Mississippi and Missouri.

Black vultures can be deadly to livestock, especially baby calves, baby goats and lambs, said Joe Cain, director of the Kentucky Farm Bureau’s commodity division.

“Black vultures will catch calves as they’re being born,” he explained. “When the head emerges, they will have surrounded the cow by then. They’ll pick the eyes of the calves out. The shock kills the baby calves. Turkey vultures don’t mind feeding on kill that’s been dead a few days. Black vultures want fresh kill. They’re trying to find fresh meat.”

About three or four years ago, under the Livestock Indemnity Program, Kentucky had about $900,000 in cattle loss from black vultures, Cain said. Black vultures can also tear up shingles on a roof, pull rubber seals off the sunroof of a car and rip boat seats apart, he noted.

“The property damage is bad enough, but with livestock, it’s a livelihood issue,” Cain stated. “Problem birds are killing young animals – it’s very hard and it’s very disheartening. They’re attacking baby animals that are basically defenseless.”

INFB first began hearing from producers about black vultures in 2015 or 2016, said Greg Slipher, the organization’s livestock specialist. “They said they needed some help to manage them,” he explained. “This is the initial voyage (for the program). We don’t know what to expect. Everyone who has called has been very appreciative.”

The farm bureau is authorized to allow 500 black vulture kills annually, Slipher said. Each sub-permit is for three kills. As of press time, Slipher had sent out 43 applications and issued 21 approvals. The sub-permits are valid through March 31, 2022. The sub-permits are only for black vultures and not for turkey vultures.

Qualifications include the applicants must be INFB members and livestock producers. They will be approved based on the number of losses they’ve had and the presence of black vultures by number and distance, he noted.

“This isn’t like a hunting permit,” Slipher said. “This is a management tool. It’s a tool to get through calving season.”

Lee Humberg, Indiana state director for the USDA wildlife services program, said producers may also use sound, light and effigies of black vultures to help disperse them.

“Our goal is to educate producers on techniques and resources to help alleviate depredation issues concerning these birds,” he said in a release. “Livestock producers can assist by reducing attractants, such as promptly removing or burying dead livestock and removing dead trees from pastures or birthing areas.”

In Tennessee over the past 30 years, black vultures have become more of a nuisance and threatening to livestock, said Lee Maddox, director of the communications division of the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation. The farm bureau’s black vulture program started in 2016.

So far this year, the Tennessee Farm Fureau has issued 131 sub-permits in 49 counties and 25 kills have been reported. Last year, 130 sub-permits were issued in 52 counties and 61 kills were reported. The program authorizes a maximum of three kills per sub-permit.

To be eligible, producers must be farm bureau members and be able to prove they’ve had issues with black vultures, Maddox said. They also have to agree to first try non-lethal methods, such as effigies, to get rid of the vultures.

“(The program) is helping the ones who are getting permits,” he noted. “They’re better protecting their livestock. Vultures can kill a big cow or at least injure it. Goats and sheep are affected too. Vultures are dangerous to property and animals, economically and emotionally.”

Producers began alerting Kentucky Farm Bureau to the presence of black vultures about 15 years ago, Cain said. The birds have been migrating north from the southeastern United States, Central America and Mexico. While they are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, they are not an endangered species, he pointed out.

Kentucky Farm Bureau started a pilot program in 2015. For 2021, the farm bureau has issued nearly 500 sub-permits. Depending on the sub-permit, producers are allowed two or three kills.

“Generally, reported takes are only around 300 (annually) or so,” Cain said. “We have about 36,000 cattle producers in Kentucky. We’re just scraping the surface. We need something to help our producers. No one is promoting we go out and hunt them. We need to protect livestock from depredation.”

For more information, visit www.infb.org/blackvultures, www.tnfarmbureau.org/blackvultures or https://fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/Documents/BlackVultureDepredationPermitProcess.pdf.