Deer can do significant damage to crops

Steve Troxler, North Carolina Agricultural Commissioner called the whitetail deer a pest with the release of a study that shows wildlife damage to agricultural field crops last year was $29. 4 million with the deer as the main culprit.

Wildlife feasted on North Carolina field crops last year, running up a tab of $29.4 million, according to a statewide survey by the N.C. Agricultural Statistics Division.
Wildlife damaged $19 million worth of soybeans and $5.6 million worth of corn, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler said in announcing the report. Damage to wheat, peanuts and cotton totaled $4.8 million.
“For some crops, animals can be as damaging as diseases, insects or the weather,” Troxler said. “And crop loss — regardless of how it occurred — can make a difference in profitability.”
Deer were the top gluttons. Ninety-two percent of soybean and cotton farms in the survey reported damage from deer. Deer also were the top foragers on 75 percent of peanut farms and 60 percent of wheat farms reporting damage.
“Bambi is a pest,” Troxler said.

As an outdoorsman I hate to see deer referred to as pests but I fully understand the damage they can cause when they get out of control. Hunting is the most effective way to control deer populations and we need to work with the farmers and other land owners to keep deer population in check.
North Carolina Department of Agriculture has announced a new program to hopefully match farmers with hunters.

The NCDA&CS has launched a Web site, “Hunt NC Farmland,” to match farmers and hunters. Farmers interested in leasing their land for hunting can post on the site, and hunters can look for farms to hunt on.

Both farmers and hunters can register on the site so check out Hunt NC Farmland. A program like this is great and hopefully it will lead to more deer that cause damages being used to feed the hungry and not left to rot in the fields after being shot for depredation.

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