Feast or famine: It’s pumpkins aplenty for some farmers, deer destruction for others
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The pumpkins and apples at Simmons Farm in Peters Township are plentiful this year.
In fact, owner Scott Simmons said it鈥檚 鈥渙ne of the nicest crops we鈥檝e had in years.
鈥淲e had a very dry spring, a fairly dry summer and that makes for a decent crop of pumpkins for us,鈥� Simmons said.
Those who want to pick their Halloween pumpkins and stroll through the apple orchards will have plenty of options available to them at Simmons Farm.
However, on the other side of the Monongahela River, farmers are struggling to contend with a large deer population that has destroyed their crops.
鈥淯nfortunately, we鈥檝e lost almost our entire crop to deer. The deer population is exploding, and it has been catastrophic,鈥� said Mark Duda, owner of Duda鈥檚 Farm in Brownsville.
Duda鈥檚 Farm will continue its 30-year tradition of offering hayrides out to a pumpkin patch, but not one with pumpkins from the farm.
Most of the pumpkins have been coming on tractor-trailer loads from Ohio, which is not how Duda is used to things going in the fall.
鈥淭his is the first time we鈥檝e had to buy pumpkins in over five years. This year it is substantially worse,鈥� Duda said.
According to Duda, the deer also have an affinity for sweet corn. He knows other farmers who are struggling with the deer and worries about the local food supply.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen anything this bad with the deer in my life,鈥� Duda said. 鈥淭here were like 60 to 80 deer in the field the other day.鈥�
Duda has been able to source some pumpkins locally. Friday morning, he was visited by Joel Milowicki, who owns JP鈥檚 Farmers Market in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County.
Milowicki agreed that the deer population is a major issue for farmers, and has plans to protect his crops in the future.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to build a 10-foot high fence around at least 100 acres,鈥� Milowicki said
Though the farm took a hit from deer, Milowicki said they are not hurting for pumpkins.
鈥淚 have an abnormally large pumpkin crop this year. (Deer) have probably taken a third of what I had,鈥� Milowicki said. 鈥淚 planted so many.鈥�
Milowicki added that it is not as though deer eat entire pumpkins, but they do bite holes into them, which causes them to rot. 鈥淚t basically makes them unmarketable and unsellable that way,鈥� Milowicki said.
JP鈥檚 Farmer鈥檚 Market has apple trees, and Milowicki takes extra precaution to protect them from deer.
鈥淲e cage all our young trees with woven wire,鈥� Milowicki said.
While Milowicki is investing his own money to fence off his farm, he hopes the government will start offering more assistance to farmers who need to protect their crops from deer. Duda agrees.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been talking to the Game Commission and any politician we can to fix this issue,鈥� Duda said.
Milowicki said that these problems are not just for farmers, and that the issue works its way down to consumers.
鈥淪ometimes those high prices they鈥檙e paying in the market, it鈥檚 because of deer damage,鈥� Milowicki said. 鈥淭hose deer are costing them on their insurance policies for their cars, and costing them at the grocery store and farm market as well.鈥�