Hoofbeat Plantation, LLC

 "Letter to Editor 2003"

Deer farming in Georgia is under attack by a system in which competing agencies within the State government are vying for control over the activity. Below is the content of a Letter to the Editor of the Sandersville Progress, in which Jens and Cindy Brynteson summarize the status of the situation.

Editor:
First of all I would like to thank all of the many people who have been praying for us and our farm. At this time we are still waiting on a answer from the State of Florida on our request to begin exporting deer there again. We are praying hard for this as it would at least provide a short term solution to our dilemma.

I would like to provide some background information on what is going on with the deer farming issue. Some of you know about our issues and some do not, so I would like to provide as complete a picture that I can. We began the deer farm in 1997 and currently have over 1000 red deer and fallow deer on our farm. Considerable time, effort, and money have been put into this endeavor. Originally the slaughter and antler velvet market looked profitable. The slaughter market hasn’t worked out at all thus far and the velvet antler market went away a few years ago with CWD (chronic wasting disease). In 2001, we started exporting deer to other states for hunting purposes. In 2002, we received enough orders for deer to break even instead of losing money like we have every year since we started. That all changed in July 2002, when most states banned the importation of deer because of CWD. We have not sold a deer since, including 2002. Most states have implemented a five year monitoring program for CWD which means we can not ship a deer from Georgia for five years. We have already had six years without any income from the deer farm. We cannot financially handle five more years.

A lot of you know what CWD is, but for those who do not let me explain a rather lengthy subject briefly. CWD is a form of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE’s). The deer waste away and die. It is not transmissible to humans. CWD was first diagnosed in Ft. Collins Colorado, by the Colorado Div. of Wildlife in their research facility in the late 1960’s. Mule deer and elk were kept in close confinement with scrapies-infected sheep, (scrapies is a TSE). Deer and elk in the facility started dying and were turned back into the wild. The problems that farmed elk have had in the last few years have all come from the Ft. Collins area. The CWD in farmed elk has almost been eliminated. The problems now with the exception of a few farmed elk, are all in wild deer, (elk, whitetail, black-tail and mule deer). The species of deer that we raise have never been diagnosed with CWD. TSE’s have been in Georgia for years in sheep (scrapies). They have not shut that industry down.

This brings up a big question. What are we supposed to do with these deer if we can not sell them? Georgia’s DNR (Department of Natural Resources) solution is to donate the deer to the Hunters for the Hungry Program. That solution is absurd. (We have six years of our lives and hundreds of thousands of dollars in these animals) My answer to that proposal is for the DNR commissioner and directors to donate their last six years salary to feed the hungry, and I will donate the deer and my last six years work. The only solution at this time since is to allow hunting of the deer like they do in most other states.

DNR tries to use CWD as a reason against legalizing the hunting of farmed deer. They were against hunting them before CWD was even an issue. We are at this time only asking to hunt the deer that are already here. Until a live animal test is developed we do not want to import any deer either. Hunting these deer in no way poses any threat to anyone or anything in anyway or increases the risk of CWD. It would actually decrease the risk because we could then monitor all the deer that were harvested instead of not monitoring any deer like is happening now.

All of this leads to another issue. Why do we have DNR regulating livestock? Our deer farm is licensed by the Dept of Agriculture. They classify our deer as livestock. BY WHAT STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION IS A FARMED AMIMAL A NATURAL RESOURCE? The DNR has made it pretty clear that they do not even want deer farming to exist. It is just not right to be regulated by an agency that does not want you to stay in business. We do not need to be regulated by both DNR and the Dept of Agriculture. We only need to be regulated by the Department of Agriculture. They are equipped to handle disease issues, movement of animals, etc. They understand livestock and farm issues, DNR does not. We have a very good working relationship with the Department of Agriculture. DNR does not have a clue what is going on within the deer farming industry. DNR regulations are depriving us of the use of our own personal property. WE NEED DNR OFF OF OUR FARM!

There are several questions that need to be answered. A few of them are:

Why do we have DNR regulating livestock? (It is not an efficient use of tax money having two agencies doing the same thing.)

Why are deer the only livestock DNR regulates?

Why are deer the only livestock that are illegal to hunt?

Hogs, which are livestock, are only regulated by DNR on public lands. Why aren’t farmed deer treated the same way since they are also livestock? My deer aren’t on public land.

Why are other livestock being hunted in fenced enclosures (hogs, goats, sheep)?
Why is it legal to hunt whitetail deer in fenced enclosures and not farmed deer?

Why can I fence in whitetail deer and sell hunts and profit from deer that I do not own, but I am not allowed to profit from deer that I do own?

DNR likes to use the term “canned hunt” when they talk about hunting exotic species of deer or other animals in an enclosure. What do they call it when you hunt pen raised ducks, quail or whitetail deer in an enclosure?

Why does DNR allow exotic game birds (pheasants and chukars) to be hunted and not exotic species of deer?

Why are fallow deer currently being hunted on Little St Simmons Island? (DNR’s answer is there is no law or regulation that prohibits the hunting of free-ranging fallow deer. – So why is there a law prohibiting me from hunting my own privately owned deer? Hunting deer on an island they cannot leave, isn’t any different than hunting deer in an enclosure).

There are many more questions that need to be answered, but this is enough to see that DNR has a double standard and wants deer farmers out of business. What DNR is doing is a violation of my private property rights. The purpose of government is to protect our rights not to prohibit us from utilizing our own personal property for its highest and best use.

In order for deer farming to survive we need to be able to harvest our deer in the most profitable way. These animals are raised to be harvested just like any other livestock. Instead of bringing a few hundred dollars at the slaughter house they would bring a few thousand dollars if used for hunting purposes. Hunting of farmed deer would bring in millions of dollars to the State of Georgia and several hundred thousand dollars into Washington County by developing a new hunting aspect to the recreational aspects of the state and county. Why is the state prohibiting the hunting of these animals at a time of budget shortfalls? This would bring money into Georgia that is currently going to other states.

If we cannot get the regulations that prohibit the hunting of farmed deer repealed soon we cannot continue to survive. I believe we are an asset to Washington County. I would like to ask local county government to be involved in this issue. They have put a lot of emphasis on bringing new industry here. It would be my suggestion to help one that is already here survive and prosper. Traditional agriculture is no longer profitable in Georgia, so any and all alternatives should be pursued in order to keep farms solvent.

I have asked Gov. Perdue to get involved in this issue. He, at this point has given the issue to Dept of Agriculture and the DNR. Dept. of Agriculture has been very sympathetic to the issues we face and DNR has been unwilling to help in any way as you can tell by what has been stated above. I am going to appeal again to Gov. Perdue to get involved in this issue because he is the only one that can help.

People ask me all the time what they can do to help. You can pray for us. We openly petition your prayers. You can specifically pray that Gov. Perdue would get involved with this issue. That he would get DNR off our farm. Those of you who know Gov. Perdue personally or our state senator or representative or any other state officials that could help could contact them on our behalf. That would be very much appreciated.

Jens & Cindy Brynteson
Hoofbeat Plantation, LLC
Warthen, GA

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