Farmers who experience serious deer damage in crops have program options to explore through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. However, funds for material assistance depend on the type and stage of crop and storage.

Plus, the sooner you apply, the better. In some instances, due to lack of personnel and funding, degradation cases are backlogged and may take a few years to handle.

Eric Nelson, DNR wildlife program specialist in the Brainerd area, says assistance ranges from materials for woven-wire deer fencing to keep deer out of orchards or away from baled alfalfa, to issuing of deer removal permits in late summer or winter when damage occurs.

Through its Wildlife Damage Management Program, the DNR works with farmers on a cooperative damage management agreement. Short-term projects may include:

Long-term projects include hunt management and construction of 10-foot-high deer fence. Farmers and growers of stored forage crops, owners of crops damaged by flightless geese, and specialty crop growers (fruit, orchard, vegetable, tree farms, nurseries, turf farms and apiaries) are also eligible.

Farmers can receive up to:

Row crop farmers

Assistance for row crop farmers is different, Nelson says. Woven-wire deer fencing is not an option. Rather, effort is channeled into developing deer hunt management plans or issuing more antlerless permits to take deer during the hunting season.

“The No. 1 tool to curb deer crop damage is hunting,” he says. The goal is to harvest antlerless deer to make an impact on the overall population that is causing the damage. He acknowledges this can be a challenge when hunters only want to go after trophy bucks and not antlerless deer. For farmers who open their land to hunters to take more antlerless deer, he sometimes recommends implementing an “earn a buck” policy or program to hunt.

“Some deer hunters don’t like it, but some states have done it in the past as a hunting season option,” he says. “Private landowners can do this if they are having a hard time finding antlerless hunters.”

To take it to another level, farm and hunting groups could organize such a program that would match landowners with meat hunters, he adds.

One farmer’s frustration

Grant Breitkreutz, a beef farmer near Redwood Falls, sees plenty of deer enjoying the fresh and dormant green buffet on his regenerative farm. Breitkreutz, also president of the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association and a mentor with the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, sees deer damage during the growing season in smaller fields along the Minnesota River bluffs and bordering DNR wildlife management areas.

“When soybeans are planted into these smaller fields [10 to 25 acres], it looks as if someone is constantly mowing the fields,” he says. “You can always find freshly cut tops on the plants and look down into the canopy. Cornfields are usually clipped also to the point that a lot of the plants won’t set a tassel and will not have growth above the height of the ear. Not all plants are hit this hard, but it does definitely affect yield.”

During the non-growing season is when Breitkreutz sees the highest deer populations.

“The deer move in and start grazing our cover crops that are on the tillable land for feed for our cows for late-fall and winter grazing,” he says. “These covers are also used to convert and hold nutrients for the next year’s cash crops, usually for the next year’s corn crop. This winter, we have counted as many as 145 head on a 30-acre field. We will consistently see populations this high and higher per acre until snowed under.”

When cover crops are covered in snow or all grazed off by cattle, the deer then move to the farm’s permanent pasturelands where Breitkreutz has stockpiled grass to calve on in the spring.

“This is the part that I have the problem with,” he says. “We manage our land to provide our livestock, a feed source for early spring grazing and calving. Why do we have to feed the DNR livestock [deer] through the winter and spring? Why don’t they change their management to mimic what we are doing and at least try to keep their livestock on their land?”

Breitkreutz enjoys seeing wildlife on the farm, yet there needs to be a better balance.

“Why would a deer want to eat fully mature grasses that are oxidized and losing feed value by the day? Management of the grass on the DNR land could be done at the proper time with cows or grazing animals to have the same type and quality of forage for the deer through the winter months as we are providing on our land,” he says.

DEER IMPACT: Stoney Creek Farm, owned by Grant and Dawn Breitkreutz in Redwood Falls, Minn., is a third-generation commercial Red Angus farm. The family converted a conventional crop and cow-calf operation into a multi-enterprise regenerative family business over the last two decades. Deer crop damage has been impacting the farm.

Breitkreutz has opened hunting on his family’s farmland during every deer season in his area.

“I visit with the hunters and ask that they take mainly only does, but with our management change, the big bucks are getting bigger, and they occasionally take some for the wall mounts,” he says.

The farm does not currently receive any state assistance to mitigate deer damage, he adds.

Kelly Anderson, livestock and grazing specialist with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, notes that good land management makes healthy soil and healthy soil makes healthy food.

“The wildlife can tell where the good stuff is,” Anderson says. “If a rancher is doing good things on their land, they will usually attract a lot of wildlife onto their land.”

She has heard of deer crop damage in other areas of the state on a smaller scale with harvested hay or silage where it is easier to install a fence or other deer deterrent.

Usually, some have concern that snow and ice will prevent livestock from grazing in the winter.

“We can also add wildlife to the potential risks of feeding stockpiled forage,” she adds, acknowledging Breitkreutz’s experience.

Get on the list

If a farmer is having issues with deer damaging crops, Nelson suggests first contacting the area wildlife manager. Though if you do not allow hunting on your property, the DNR may not enter into a cooperative damage management agreement with you.

Also, the program has been understaffed and underfunded for some time, so be prepared to wait your turn for help. Over the last five years, Nelson has operated on a budget of about $220,000 per year. Those funds cover everything — staff travel expenses, building and office supply expenses, and the material assistance program funds used to purchase materials for landowners. Funding for the program is from license fees paid by hunters.

As of mid-February, only one of two specialist positions has been filled to cover the state. Nelson is in the process of filling the last one. Assistance is also provided by area wildlife staff. Nelson keeps track of landowners who request assistance for a woven-wire deer fence and notes that there is a three- to four-year wait list.

The DNR Wildlife Damage Management Program was passed by the state Legislature in 1993 to provide landowners relief from wildlife damage. It is funded through the Game and Fish Fund.

Visit the DNR online to read more about the Wildlife Damage Management Program and find your local office.