Alabama Extension Investigates Deer Deterrents

Researchers with Alabama Extension are exploring several different avenues to protect crops from deer, which cause major damage to crops in the state. They tested both foliar and field-perimeter repellents made from a variety of ingredients, including human hair, sheep fat, rotten eggs, and other agricultural wastes and byproducts. The most effective product to date is a foliar spray that is undergoing further development before release. The research project also evaluated the effectiveness of boundary crops, and found that sunn hemp planted as a 40-foot field boundary before the cash crop was planted appeared to be an affordable way to reduce deer damage to cotton fields.
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