Sludge On Fields Keep Deer Away - No Thought Of Consequences!

Is anyone thinking of consequences of this mentality?

PUBLISHED THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2002

Field of sludge no dream for deer

Fertilizer might keep animals out of crops, benefiting farmers Seldon Pierce News Journal correspondent

Local researchers might have found a solution to the problem of deer destroying cotton and peanut
crops - sludge.

Researchers say using sludge from the Escambia County Utilities Authority treatment plant as
fertilizer has a double benefit. It also deters deer from grazing through farmers' fields like
they're at a buffet.

The damage is more than just cosmetic.

"One of the hardest things I have to do is get across to people the economic impact that this has
had on me," said Bruce Godwin, who grows 800 acres of cotton and peanuts in Santa Rosa and Escambia
counties. "I don't think people realize what the destruction of crops by deer has cost farmers in
the past five or six years.

"If it increases as much in the next five years as it has in the past, it will put me out of
business."

Doug Hatfield, who farms at the research station of the University of Florida near Chumuckla, said
deer destroyed peanut and cotton crops in the area, including the peanut crop at the station.

However last year Godwin noticed the animals avoided a food plot where the Utilities Authority
sludge was used as fertilizer. He mentioned it at a meeting at the University of Florida research
station.

Research Center Director Jeffery Mullahey tested the theory by applying dried sludge to half the
center's cotton and peanut crops. The deer avoided the treated crops.

John Atkins, Santa Rosa County Extension agent in Jay, also is testing the idea.

"We sprayed a buggy load on the edges of a commercial cotton field in an effort to change the deer's
path of travel. We're looking at it to see if it's effective."

The sludge application has not been approved for food crops, so it's not recommended for peanuts
this year. The research station uses it, but the products grown there are not consumed.

Carney Hamilton, water reclamation director at the ECUA plant, said the sludge meets Department of
Environmental Protection guidelines. The only cost involved is transporting and spreading the
sludge.

The plant produces 20 to 23 dry tons per day. It recycles the sludge left after the wastewater plant
treats sewage. The sludge is run through thermal dryers, treated to remove harmful metals or
pathogens and turned into pellets suitable to treat agricultural land.
Why does the sludge deter deer?

"It could be the smell," said Mullahey.

If this works, it could be a bonus for local farmers.

"Last year, my insurance company estimated that on a 40-acre field, I would harvest 4,200 pounds per acre, but where the deer attacked the crop I got only 300 pounds per acre," Godwin said. "I figure I lost $25,000 last year."