Staff at the Homer C. Thompson Vegetable Research Farm in Freeville, N.Y., recently installed one mile of eight-foot-tall woven wire fence to protect 30 acres of organic research projects — including tomato-, pepper- and cucurbit-breeding, trials on soil health and crop rotation and more — from deer damage.
And they did it for 80% less than the cost of hiring an outside contractor.
Heavy deer pressure threatens the accuracy of most small-plot agricultural research. Staff from many research programs install temporary electric fencing to protect research plots, a significant ongoing investment in time and materials.
The Freevile farm is one of seven managed by the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station. CUAES staff plan to replicate this fencing model at other farms.