In the village of Leksvik, a judgment was just passed that states that sheep are not allowed to roam in a limited area of open land there. The case has grown big and has set emotions in motion outside Trøndelag as well. The case is about where sheep are allowed to graze, and whether they are allowed to go outside their core areas for grazing, so-called roaming. Sheep farmers are afraid the verdict will set the standard for other parts of the country. – In practice, this is simply about the basis of life and the resource base of our farm being kicked, says sheep farmer in Leksvik, Kristoffer Moan. He lost the case in the land transfer court against another landowner. Sheep farmer Kristoffer Moan fears for his livelihood after he recently lost a case in the Trøndelag Land Transfer Court. Photo: Ingrid LIndgaard Stranden / news – The judgment is a good picture of the direction in which the use of rangeland in Norway is about to take, says grazing and rangeland adviser in the organization Norsk sau og geit, Per Fossheim. He fears the rangeland will be made increasingly inaccessible to grazing livestock. More difficult to be a sheep The number of sheep in Norway has been fairly stable over a hundred years. But there are far fewer who have sheep, and those who have sheep have more animals. This is a desired policy. But with the changes in agricultural policy, there are also new issues and a tug-of-war over who should be allowed to use open fields. – In the past there were sheep on many farms, and there was a common acceptance that the animals had to move in open fields across many properties to find food, says Fossheim. Now there are more and more people who want their piece of nature, and there is not the same tolerance for sheep to go on private property and look for food. – There is a danger that it will move towards a privatization of the use of open land, and people will go to court to clarify, says Fossheim. These sheep have been taken home for the winter. The village of Leksvik has the country’s second largest common area for grazing, public use. Photo: Ingrid LIndgaard Stranden / news Grazing outside the public domain Leksvik is known for the fact that there has been a lot of sheep and goat grazing there throughout the ages. In the 19th century, a so-called commons was established here. That is, an area that several farmers can use together and where they let their animals graze. A common area. The community in Leksvik is one of the country’s largest. It covers an area of 111 square kilometers. Now the dispute is over whether sheep can be allowed to use the terrain outside this area as well. Whether the sheep have a grazing right. The sheep do not know where the boundaries are, and can occasionally wander outside the commons. A recent judgment in the Trøndelag Land Transfer Court says that sheep that use the commons in Leksvik are not allowed to roam in the open fields of landowner Arnstein Tømmerås. Sheep from farmers in Leksvik have wandered here from the open field and into the internal field to Tømmerås. He points out that there is enough space for four times as many grazing animals as today on the commons, but that the challenge is to keep them where they should be. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news – We went to court to clarify whether the sheep have a grazing right, and we are thinking of using the open field for our own grazing for cattle, says Tømmerås. Condemned to keep the sheep away Tømmerås does not border on the general public. But sheep have nevertheless come over to his property, and some of the animals have also spent time in the family’s garden. The judgment states that sheep must not roam onto his property. This applies, among other things, to Kristoffer Moan’s animals. – It is quite dramatic and there have been some really hard days, says Moan. He invested in a new sheep barn in 2015, and has three hundred sheep that are out in the fields every summer. Kristoffer Moan has three hundred sheep that are on the farm in the winter and on pasture in the summer. Photo: Ingrid LIndgaard Stranden / news Thinks the legislation is from a bygone era The legislation that forms the basis of the judgment is from 1960. Fossheim believes that it is problematic that the legislation is adapted to a different reality in agriculture than today’s. – The law is from a time when there were sheep on many farms, and the approach to grazing animals was different. As long as there is the same number of animals going out to graze, the animals need greater legal protection of their right to graze. He believes that the land transfer courts are somehow forced to judge as they do, when the legislation is as it is. Per Fossheim, grazing and open range adviser at the Norwegian Sheep and Goat organisation, is concerned about the restrictions being put in place for grazing animals across the country. Photo: Alexander Nordby / news He points out that the judgment in Leksvik is principled, and there have been several such judgments that limit the sheep’s right to graze in recent years. – This particularly applies in the areas of Vestland, Sørlandet and parts of Telemark. He says that in 1980 an attempt was made to draw up a new NOU which would change the Fencing and Grazing Act, but that the legislative committee was stopped because the issue was so conflicted. Fears precedent – We have used the open field for generations and have managed it in a good way, I think. That we are going to be stripped of our rights in the outback overnight is hard, says Bjørnar Buhaug. He is also a sheep farmer in Leksvik. Bjørnar Buhaug is a former mayor of Indre Fosen municipality, and a sheep farmer. He thinks the whole thing is sad. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news What many fear is that the judgment in the land transfer court will set a precedent. They are afraid that other landowners will point to the verdict, and use it to eat up even more of the areas where the sheep can be. – If the grazing right does not apply in a place like Leksvika, I cannot see where it should apply at all. And if it is the case that no sheep farmer in Norway will be able to make use of the right to roam, then the grazing industry is in a big problem in my opinion, says Buhaug. Tømmerås believes that the fear of the sheep owners is exaggerated. – There have been many judgments in the past about grazing rights that have gone both ways. These are questions that must be clarified with each individual landowner, says Tømmerås. These sheep at Bjørnar Buhaug graze below the barn after being brought home from summer grazing in the open fields. Photo: Ingrid Lindgaard Stranden / news Could have been avoided with a fence The reason why the case ended up in court at all was that Tømmerås wanted to clarify who is responsible for maintaining a fence that has been set up in the open field. Norwegian Sheep and Goat believes that putting up many fences in open fields is in itself problematic. – This also affects reindeer and other animals that move over much of the same areas as sheep. It is also not a desired development if you mean something by food security, and want grazing animals to make use of the large resource that is open land, says Fossheim.
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Fears recent verdict will destroy the future for those who have sheep – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
