Thursday, October 6, 2005

Deer damage up close and personal I visited Jackson County farmer Steve Stetzer today to see first-hand the kind of damage deer have been doing to his crops. We walked through a soybean field, where the evidence was so clear a child would have seen it. Steve's soybeans are dry and ready for harvest. The leaves have fallen off the plants, and clusters of fat bean pods cling to the stalks. The taller the stalk, the more clusters of beans, since the pods grow pretty much the full length of the stalk. In a section of the field that deer have not browsed, the plants stand nearly waist high, with bean pods running the entire length of the plants. "Here, I can expect a yield of 45 or 50 bushels and acre," Steve said. Just 100 yards closer to a woodlot, though, it was a different story. As we walked toward the woods, the height of the beanstalks steadily diminished, until at the woods edge, they were barely shoe-top tall, with a few clusters of beans per stalk. "This section of the field might yield 8 or 10 bushels an acre," Steve lamented. "That wouldn't even cover the cost of producing them." Steve and his brothers farm over 2000 acres, most of it in corn and soybeans. Their crops sustain so much damage that the Stetzer brothers enrolled in Wisconsin's Agricultural Damage program three years ago. "When we first got into the program, we were losing maybe $20,000 a year," Steve said. "Since we've been in the ag. damage program, we've seen some improvement in crop yields, but we've still got a ways to go. We have shot 24 deer already this year, but there are still too many deer. We'll stay in the program as long as we keep seeing improvement in our yields." Tomorrow, I'll visit two more farms in this area for a look at damage to corn and Christmas trees. My guide is DNR biologist Michele Windsor. We're taping segments for Outdoor Wisconsin's annual Deer Hunt show, which will air Nov. 10 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 12 at 9 a.m. on MPTV-Milwaukee and Nov. 11 at 9 p.m. on the Wisconsin Public TV network, including Madison, Green Bay, La Crosse, Wausau, Menomonie and Park Falls. Check your local listings to verify times and stations. Later... 10:59:50 PM    comment []

© Copyright 2005 Dan Small. Last update: 10/22/05; 10:47:59 PM.