One deer eats about a ton of forage per year, and if you are a farmer trying to produce a cash crop, this can be costly if those deer decide they like what you are trying to grow. From small vegetable and fruit growers to large fields of soybeans and corn, there are several options farmers can use to significantly reduce the damage.
Deer Hunting
Let’s begin with the best method of all to reduce deer crop damage: hunting the deer. Deer season is the perfect time to do deer population management for reducing crop damage. Farmers can hunt their own land, invite friends and family to hunt, host mentored hunts on their properties, or offer the hunting rights for lease. Doe harvest should be emphasized or even required in these hunting efforts to effectively reduce deer density, in turn reducing the number of mouths feeding on crops.
Many states offer additional landowner permits, crop damage permits, extended antlerless seasons, or have a Deer Management Assistance Program where landowners or land managers can enroll their properties and receive additional antlerless tags to help reduce deer density. Many farmers or landowners also lease out their properties to hunters or hunting clubs who can also help them reduce deer densities as well as providing an additional source of revenue.
If you’re not a hunter or maybe you don’t have the time to hunt, there may be other options in your state to help landowners reduce the deer density on their property. For example, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources offers a program called the Wildlife Damage and Abatement Claims Program where farmers can enroll their properties and receive wildlife damage compensation by allowing hunting access to the public on their properties. Pennsylvania has a similar program called the Agricultural Deer Control Program (AG Tag, formerly known as “Red Tag”) where a permit authorizes landowners or lessees to enlist the aid of hunters for the purpose of removing deer causing damage on agricultural lands, during and outside of the regular deer hunting seasons.
Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry is a national non-profit organization headquartered out of Maryland that uses donated meat from farmers and hunters to help feed the hungry. This is another great option to help farmers reduce deer densities on their property while also giving back to those in need.
Many state game agencies and organizations also partner with farmers and landowners to offer mentored hunting opportunities on their properties to reduce deer densities. The National Deer Association’s Field to Fork mentored hunting program also introduces new adult hunters to the world of hunting on some of these private lands and DMAP properties to help out landowners. The longest running NDA Field to Fork program location in Missouri is in partnership with a 3,000-acre soybean and corn farm to directly help the farmer reduce deer densities while giving new adult hunters a chance to take their first deer. It has been a win-win for everyone involved!
Deer hunting is the best way to maintain deer density in balance with available natural habitat, preventing crop damage in the long term. In the short term, the following additional options may help but should be in addition to an effort to reduce deer density through hunting.
Fencing & Exclusion
Fencing is one method of exclusion for keeping deer out of your crop. Fencing can minimize damage but can be expensive and labor-intensive, especially on larger acreages. Electric fencing or eight-foot-high woven wire fencing are two of the more effective types for exclusion.
In 2010, Kurt Vercauteren and his co-authors published the paper Assessment of Abilities of White-tailed Deer to Jump Fences in The Journal of Wildlife Management, and their results showed that deer could jump just under 8 feet (2.4 meters) high. The following year Dr. Karl Miller and Dr. Gino D’Angelo and their colleagues at the University of Georgia compared several fence designs (including wire and solid material) for excluding deer from roadways. Their results concluded that regardless of fence design, an 8-foot-high fence design excluded all deer from the research plot. They also found that the fence height can be lowered if an angled “outrigger” is added to the top of the fence in the direction deer are expected to come from. Installing fencing at a 45° angle can also be helpful because of a deer’s poor depth perception.
Slash walls around crop fields are another exclusion option that can be used to reduce deer crop damage. Slash walls are exactly what you think they are: walls made of cut or downed trees. They can be very effective if built tall, deep, and wide so deer can’t go through or under them. One downfall to slash walls is they only last for a limited time as they break down after about five years.
Cornell University launched a study in 2017 to test the effectiveness of slash walls on reducing deer browse in forests. According to Cornell, “Over 400 acres have successfully been protected to date at Cornell’s Arnot Forest at a significantly lower cost than the alternative of fencing.”
Harassment & Repellents
There are many forms of harassment techniques and repellents that can help farmers to deter deer from their crop fields. These techniques can be effective, but their effectiveness will diminish as deer become habituated to them. Most crops are susceptible to damage during a relatively short window of time, and harassment techniques and repellents used during that time can be very effective at reducing yield losses.
Propane cannons can be used near areas where deer enter crop fields and can be set to detonate using motion sensors or varying timers. When the locations and timings of the detonations are changed periodically, this can increase the effectiveness of the propane cannons as a scare tactic to deter deer from the field, thus reducing crop damage since the deer are scared away from where they would normally eat the crops.
Dogs, fireworks, and gunfire can also be used as deterrents, but they only offer temporary effectiveness and usually only in small areas.
Repellent products like Deer Away, human hair, smelly soaps, or Milorganite are also options for deterring deer from smaller areas or specific ornamental plants. They can be expensive, they’re not very practical for large crop fields, and they are usually only a temporary solution to the problem.
Crop Timing & Rotation
Adjusting planting times can help in some cases. For example, planting soybeans earlier in the year, in spring instead of summer, can give the plants a head start when natural deer forages are more abundant and attractive. By the time deer turn more attention to crops, soybeans are mature enough to tolerate moderate browsing.
Crop rotation is another option that will not only benefit soil health but it can also disrupt deer feeding patterns by rotating deer-preferred crops to less desirable crops which reduces the predictability of the food sources and disorients the deer. This approach makes crop fields less attractive or predictable as a food source and deer will often seek out known native forage instead of your cash crop.
The federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is another long term option (10 – 15 years) that has many benefits to farmers who want to benefit wildlife as well, especially in low yield areas of the property. Farmers can receive incentives for placing part of their property into the program which can improve soil health, reduce erosion, benefit wildlife, all while providing another income source for the farmer.
Vegetation & Habitat Management
I’m sure you’ve heard it said that “deer are creatures of the edge.” Most deer crop damage occurs along edges where the crop field and forest meet. Deer stay close to the forest edge because they want to feel secure, so they usually don’t travel too far from cover. Farmers and landowners can benefit from managing the forest areas adjacent to their crop fields, which can provide deer with both food and cover. Supplemental food plots strategically planted between bedding areas and crop fields can also reduce crop damage since deer will likely hit the food plot first.
Another similar option is to plant a “lure crop” or border planting which provides a highly desirable food plot crop next to the main cash crop along the edge next to the forest or adjacent habitat. Deer are more likely to stop and eat the lure crop versus venturing out into the open to eat the cash crop, and since most crop damage occurs along the edge, the lure crop will likely bear the majority of the deer damage.
Edge feathering is another technique that can be done to “soften” the edges where forest and field meet. This stair-step structure is highly attractive to wildlife versus the hard wall edge of trees from a closed canopy forest next to the open field. This softening also allows sunlight out into the crop area for a higher crop yield by reducing canopy shading. In areas where field edges are located next to a mature woodland, there can be as much as a 30% reduction in yield due to lack of sunlight and competition for nutrients.
This edge area can also support a more diverse community of predators, which can be another deterrent to deer coming out into the field. Closed edge feathering can create a living fence parallel to the crop field which can not only create browse, but it can also funnel deer away from the crop or funnel them to specific areas where hunters can be strategically set up for shot opportunities to help reduce deer densities.
A border or buffer strip of native vegetation along the edge between the forest and crop field is another option to potentially reduce deer crop damage, depending on the cash crop planted. As long as this area is kept mowed in a 30- to 60-foot wide strip, deer will not feel secure out in the open. Deer will also likely feed on the native forbs in the strip instead of the crop since it is closest to cover for their security. If the strip is left too tall, deer will use it as cover, thus having the opposite desired outcome. Farmers can often enroll in numerous cost-share programs that can help with many of these native plantings as well as some of the other vegetation and habitat management methods mentioned.
Conclusion
None of these methods are foolproof or are intended to eliminate deer crop damage, but they can be used to help reduce deer crop damage to an insignificant level. If your farm is suffering crop damage, plan now to implement a deer hunting effort this fall. Enjoy or share the recreational opportunity and venison while protecting your livelihood.