Green Horizons

This article is part of a Missouri Department of Agriculture T(MDA) series called "Small Farms, Big Ideas" that showcases Missouri producers who are trying innovative and sustainable projects on their farms. The grant that assisted the Brundages in establishing their windbreak is part of the MDA’s Missouri Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Awards program. In 2004, UMCA sponsored three of the program’s grants to focus on sustainable projects that involve agroforestry. For Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Awards program information, contact the MDA at (573) 522-8616. Visit www.mda.mo.gov to access additional "Small Farms, Big Ideas" stories. Writer: Lori Compas (608) 238- 1654 or lori@hartcreek.com

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- "If you’re growing trees, your No. 1 problem is going to be deer predation," says Scott Brundage. Browsing and buck rubbing can destroy branches and buds, ruining a tree’s form and damaging its health.

Brundage, who has planted 55 acres of trees on a 76-acre farm in young walnut trees and ornamentals, thinks he’s found an inexpensive solution: a deer-proof fence. He won an agroforestry grant, part of the Missouri Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Awards program, to build the fence and record its effectiveness.

Scott Brundage planted 55 acres of walnut trees and ornamentals on a 76-acre farm. With support from the Missouri Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Awards program, he designed an electric fence that is effectively protecting the trees from deer predation.

The fence consists of two closely spaced electric wire-rope fencelines, one around the perimeter of his field and the other three feet inside. The outer fence is strung with two rows of electric wire rope. One row is about 15 inches high and the other is about three feet off the ground. The second fenceline is about three feet inside the first, and it has three lines of wire rope: one at 12 inches, one at 28 inches, and one at 45 inches.

The fence is powered by a solar panel that charges a deep-cycle marine battery, and simple fiberglass poles support the wire ropes.

"The braided wire rope creates a kind of optical illusion," Brundage says. "You almost can’t tell which is the front and which is the back. In reality, the deer could jump over it easily - but they don’t."

Brundage baits the top outer wire about every 100 feet. He uses a pop-top bottle cap and a cotton ball soaked in bait. "Concentrated apple juice works, but it’s very expensive," he says. "Peanut butter works, and I hear molasses does, too. The idea is to use something sweet-smelling."

Brundage says it works like a charm.

"That first night the sun goes down, and the deer come out," Brundage says. "They’re very curious, and they’ll sniff that bait with their wet nose or lick it with their wet tongue, and let me tell you, that cannot be fun."

He says the fence, when properly maintained, is 100 percent effective. As he sees it, there are two crucial keys to success.

First of all, the fence should be hot the first night it’s up, and it should be kept hot. This requires regular checking and maintenance.

"Weeds grow up and short it out, or reduce the power," he says. "If you’ve got good weed control, you’re 90 percent home free." He goes out three times a year - in late April, late June, and in August - and sprays pre-and postemergent herbicides to control weeds.

He also advises checking the fence after a storm to make sure floodwaters or fallen tree limbs have not caused it to short out.

The other key is to bait the fence regularly. "The deer population is shuffling all the time, and the new ones have to be educated," Brundage says. "Otherwise they’ll discover they can get through the fence, and then you have a problem."

Brundage advises hanging fresh bait every two to four weeks.

The fence is easy to install and relatively inexpensive. Brundage says that he and two other people put up over a mile of fence easily in one day.

Brundage has planted genetically superior grafted walnut trees about 60 feet apart over the 55-acre plot. Between the trees, on six-foot spacing, he has planted ornamental trees - oaks, maples, pears, and other "growing stock" that will be balled and burlapped for landscaping when the trees are six to ten feet tall.

On the 60-foot swath between rows, Brundage is growing a variety of field crops. This year he grew soybeans, and next year he plans to plant sunflowers and host a dove hunting rental area. He’ll also experiment with alfalfa for hay and valuable grass for seed.

As the farm changes, the fence can change right along with it. "That fence can be moved from one field to another, or it’s easy to expand," he says, noting that he’ll probably move the fence in about ten years, when the walnut trees are tall enough to withstand occasional buck rubs and the ornamental trees have all been dug up and sold to nurseries.

"If you manage it right, you can really do yourself some good," he says.