June 26, 2008

Deer management and donations needed
year-round

MARTINSVILLE—June marks the beginning of peak growing season for farm crops in Virginia. It’s also when farmers start to suffer major crop losses from deer.

The Virginia Hunters for the Hungry program has worked for years to allow hunters to donate their kills to local food banks, and now they’re urging farmers to remember them when they have to take deer out of season.

“I think Virginia’s Hunters for the Hungry program is good for everybody,” said Gordon Metz, a Henry County beef and hay producer and member of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation board of directors. “It provides food for people in need, as well as another avenue for reducing the deer population and the accompanying crop damage and property damage these animals can cause.”

The state’s deer population is slightly less than 1 million animals, according to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. In 1992 a committee of state agencies estimated annual agricultural and property losses from deer at $11.4 million for crops and $4.5 million for other property such as nursery products. At that time commodity prices were significantly lower than they are today.

In 1988, the game department began allowing deer to be hunted out of season by permit if they were destroying farm commodities. But most of that venison is not processed for donation.

Farmers like Metz are trying to change that. His Pinecrest Equipment Co. has built about 20 portable meat coolers on trailers for groups like the Augusta County Farm Bureau to help both hunters and farmers transport their deer kills to meat processors. Metz also owns Pinecrest Meats, which has processed venison for Hunters for the Hungry for several years.

In 2006 state game officials said they issued about 2,235 kill permits to Virginia farmers and other citizens, resulting in 8,091 deer kills. In 2007 the number of permits issued rose to 2,567, with a preliminary count of 9,901 kills.

“We normally take in 8,000 deer a year during hunting season,” said Gary Arrington, special projects coordinator for Hunters for the Hungry. “So if we picked up only half of those kill permit deer, we could increase the amount of venison we provide local food banks by 50 percent.”

The flip side of that equation is that it takes money to process all the donated meat. While Hunters for the Hungry helped distribute a record 363,748 pounds of venison to food banks in 2007, Arrington said every year the program has turned down deer donations for lack of funding.

“They pay me for processing, but we try to give back by charging less than the current rate,” Metz said. “We process between 150 and 200 deer a year, and I partnered with my local Ruritan Club this past year to double my cash donation.” He urges other farmers to offer their financial support to the program as well.

Anyone can contribute to the Hunters for the Hungry program by calling 800-362-HUNT or by checking off the $2 donation box when they purchase a Virginia hunting license next fall.

Contact Arrington at 800-352-4868; Matt Knox, VDGIF, at 434-525-7654; or Norm Hyde, VFBF video producer, at 804-290-1146.