The state’s white tailed deer population is becoming an increasing nuisance for farmers in West Central Illinois, particularly corn growers.
West Central Illinois is known nationwide for being a prime hunting spot for deer. According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources website, more than $2.1 billion in tourism dollars are spent on hunting and fishing in the state.
According to RFD Illinois, the Schuyler County Farm Bureau hosted a meeting of over 70 farmers earlier this month to discuss damages that deer have been making to crops. Schuyler County Farm Bureau President Chris Vogler told RFD that all stakeholders need to get to the table and find solutions to this costly problem: “We had several of our members come in and ask what we could do or how we could help them. We’ve talked to several farmers and they may farm 1,000 to 1,500 acres and they’ve replanted 100 acres just due to deer damage. They get the crops in. They start coming up and the deer come in and just annihilate it. We know there is not a quick answer with IDNR, but we’re looking for a solution that can alleviate some of that pressure.”
The State of New Jersey, which ranks 9th in the nation in sweet corn production, says that the financial costs of deer damage in 2019 was at nearly $1.3 million for 27 farms studied for a comprehensive analysis and study completed by Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. Illinois ranks 4th in the nation in sweet corn production by comparison and has more than double the deer population.
Vogler told RFD that the meeting earlier this month produced several ideas to help stop some of the damages done by deer: “Most of the meeting was just trying to throw out ideas that would work within regulations within the state that help the farmers but also would keep everyone else happy. Some ideas like extending the season for nuisance permits for where when people get those permits, they can use them in the Fall and Winter where you can actually harvest the meat. That’s an incredibly tough thing to do in the Summer when the heat is up. We’re not out here trying to just destroy a population or a species of animals. We actually want to put that to use the best we can.”
Vogler says interest in the topic has been large and far-reaching. He says the initial meetings held earlier this summer have grown larger each time. In addition to the meetings, state lawmakers recently visited fields in Schuyler County that have been impacted by the state’s deer population destroying crops.