Ask any farmer that has grown crops in Georgia, and they will tell you that damage from deer is a real factor on their bottom line. A recent study published by the University of Georgia calculated that in 2017, damage to crops from deer to farmers figured out to around $33,000 per year in losses. That totaled to around $2.7 million in 2017 alone, according to the study.
The same is true in neighboring states like Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina where row-crop farmers reported increased losses from damage done by deer.
But according to data from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division, deer population in Georgia is stable and hasn’t seen a dramatic increase. In fact, some suggest that the deer population has actually gone down due to the number of predators like bear and coyotes.
Charlie Killmaster, the state’s deer biologist, says that while deer populations may have grown slightly in some parts of the Peach State, as the value of crops go up – and the cost to grow those crops goes up – farmers are noticing deer damage now more than ever.
The state does allow for deer control permits issued to farmers to shoot a limited number of deer in their crop fields.
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