Extension Researchers Taking Whitetail Deer Damage Head-On

By Katie Nichols

Row crop farmers have turned to Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) researchers for answers as whitetail deer caused approximately $10.9 billion in damage across the state in 2022. Farmers are frustrated, but ACES Entomologist Scott Graham and Regional Extension Agent Eddie McGriff have been working on a solution.

If their promising research proves beneficial, planting a sunn hemp trap crop one month before planting cotton may be the solution farmers need.

The Problem

“Alabama is blessed with a diverse landscape, from the sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast to the Appalachian Mountains in Jackson County,” Graham said. “However, much of this landscape results in smaller fields. The average cotton field is 21 acres.”

Graham said small fields are safe havens for evening feeding and are often surrounded by woods on at least three sides. Deer can damage thousands of seedlings in a single evening. The ACES crops team conducted a survey with farmers to better understand Alabama’s row crop deer damage. Fifty-eight farmers responded.

Graham said the survey found 37,750 acres were affected in Alabama in 2022 — an average of 317 per surveyed farmer.

“For reference, the U.S. Department of Agriculture State Agriculture Overview reported an average farm size of 213 acres in 2021,” Graham said. “This issue is widespread and consistent. Ninety-five percent of respondents said deer are a problem every year.”

Farmers are trying many different control methods, but none provide lasting or complete control. Permits that allow culling nuisance deer in fields during the growing season are helpful but do not prevent deer from damaging crops. Other options are not feasible because of affordability or effectiveness.

A Promising Solution

McGriff has had success planting sunn hemp as a buffer or border trap crop. Sunn hemp is a summer legume with prolific growth, even under intense deer pressure.

A demonstration in Cherokee County produced positive results in 2021. McGriff and farmer Nick McMichen planted a 40-foot trap crop border of sunn hemp on the entry end of a field with consistent and crippling deer damage. Around two acres of cotton were lost, as deer fed primarily in the sunn hemp.

During the 2022 season, McGriff conducted research with Mike Tate in Meridianville.

“Mike planted sunn hemp at the same time as he planted his cotton,” McGriff said. “While it did provide a buffer during the growing season, the sunn hemp wasn’t established before the cotton was in the ground.”

His research shows for sunn hemp to work as a trap crop, it must be planted before the cash crop so it’s growing and attractive to deer while cotton is establishing.

Future research will explore the addition of an electric fence, ideal border size as a single deterrent and ideal border size when combined with an electric fence.

Measurable Deer Damage

In 2022, deer caused economic damage on

17,653 acres of cotton

10,490 acres of soybeans

4,987 acres of peanuts

3,915 acres of corn

Other crops with notable damage included sweet potatoes, grain sorghum, wheat and rye. Injured crop acreage for secondary crops totaled 705 acres, per survey results.

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