That’s no typo! White-tailed deer in this state caused so much damage in 2022 the state is bracing for higher than normal crop-damage assistance payouts.
The Top 4 crops affected were:
4. Corn
3. Peanuts
2. Soybeans
1. Cotton
Total losses are estimated at nearly $11 million for the calendar year for Alabama farmers.
Survey results from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System crops team showed farmers lost an average of 33% of their crops due to deer. However, farmers lost anywhere from 0 to 100%.
Other crops affected included sweet potatoes, grain sorghum, wheat and rye. Damage to these secondary crops totaled 705 acres.
Farmers have tried tackling this problem in many ways, including applying for permits to harvest deer in the field during growing season. However, this strategy hasn’t yielded much success. Many other options can be ruled out due to affordability and effectiveness.
One farmer, Nick McMichen of Cherokee County, found success by planting a 40-foot trap crop border of sunn hemp on the entry end of his 40-acre crop field. During that season, approximately 2 acres were lost as deer mainly ate the sunn hemp compared to 20 acres in previous years. Sunn hemp can work as a trap crop only if it is planted before the cash crop. That way it is growing and desirable to deer while the cotton crop is being established.
Deer Eat Cotton Plants?
Yep. According to NCSE, in many common cases, deer feeding occurs on young cotton (cotyledon cotton to 2-leaf cotton) where seedlings are damaged below the cotyledons (Figure 5). In these cases, the terminal bud and all of growth-supporting plant tissue needed for new vegetative branches is lost, and these plants will soon die.
