Theses and Dissertations

ORCID

0009-0000-5117-9731

Advisor

Yun, Seong

Committee Member

Coatney, Kalyn

Committee Member

Jungers, Brenna

Committee Member

Quintana Ashwell, Nicolas

Date of Degree

8-12-2026

Original embargo terms

Visible MSU Only 1 year

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Campus Access Only

Major

Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Agricultural Economics

Abstract

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Wisconsin provide indirect benefits to agricultural producers by suppressing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), reducing crop damage and deer culling costs, while simultaneously imposing direct livestock losses. This study evaluates these trade-offs using a discrete-time dynamic bioeconomic model that maximizes a representative agricultural producer's net benefit, accounting for predator-prey interactions between gray wolves and white-tailed deer. Results indicate that wolves generate approximately $36,977 per year in indirect benefits, offsetting only 8.9% of the $415,617 in annual livestock losses. This imbalance persists across all feasible wolf population levels, with livestock damage accumulating approximately 11 times faster than indirect benefits as wolf numbers grow. These findings highlight the need for explicit cost-benefit accounting in conservation policy, with regulated hunting and depredation compensation through hunting permit revenue as more effective tools for addressing producer welfare.

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