Planting cover crops.

[jjeff]

Will planting an acre or two of cover crops like clover or something help deter deer from eating my sweet corn, pumpkins, and new Xmas trees? Very small scale hobby farmer on 15 acres. Or would it attract more deer in the area if they haven't found my unintentional wildlife sanctuary already? Deer have decimated my break even profit margin and has gotten 10x worse after they clear cut several hundred acres across railroad tracks from my property.

 

[fishheadbob]

Chances aren't good that a tasty cover crop will solve your problem. That has been tried many times. Many Christmas Tree farmers use two methods to deter deer; 8 to 10 foot fence, and that old standby lead. Problems are that good deer fencing is very expensive while lead takes a long time. Deer used to eat 3 to 4 thousand dollars worth of my Fraser Fir annually, and while a couple of blood thirsty hunters eventually resolved my particular problem I would have been ahead buying the fencing.