Can deer repellents prevent soybean yield loss?

 

 

In 2019, Michigan State University Extension trialed DeerProSpring & Summer and Plantskydddeer repellent products on two production soybean fields in northeast Lower Michigan (Metz, Michigan) and the south-central Upper Peninsula (Cooks, Michigan). Damage to soybeans by white-tailed deer depredation is a common problem in these areas of the state. Research conducted in the region by MSU Extension in 2015 recorded early-season defoliation in soybeans ranging from 0 to 87.5%. Deer browsing significantly reduced soybean yields that year. Yield loss at the field scale ranged from 0 to 100%, averaging 10% or 3.89 bushels per acre. In these fields with the highest levels of depredation, chemical repellents may have potential as a solution to remedy crop damage.

 

DeerPro Spring & Summer, manufactured by Great Oak Inc., is a commercial repellent product containing 2.6% putrescent egg solids plus capsaicin. Putrescent egg solids work as a repellent by emitting a sulfurous odor that mimics the smell of predator urine, thus discouraging deer from browsing on treated foliage. Plantskydd is a commercial repellent manufactured by Tree World Plant Care Products, Inc. containing 99.84% dried blood (porcine and bovine). Like putrescent eggs, blood-based products are thought to mimic odors associated with predator activity, triggering a flight response in deer.

 

Our study in 2019 builds upon two previous years of research testing deer repellent products in soybeans. In 2017 and 2018, MSU Extension Presque Isle County trialed DeerPro Spring & Summer as a means of reducing deer depredation of soybean. In 2017, the treatment significantly reduced depredation and yield loss at one location but failed to do so at a second location. In 2018, an early application of DeerPro Spring & Summer was paired with a later application of DeerPro Winter, a contact repellent containing thiram. This two-product program did not perform as well).

 

In 2018, commercial soybean and dry bean growers in northeast Lower Michigan and the Garden Peninsula began experimenting with Plantskydd. Growers reported success using Plantskydd to reduce deer damage in beans, which encouraged us to include it as a research treatment for the first time in 2019.

 

 

Fields for this year’s trial were selected based on landscape factors known to increase the likelihood of deer damage (forested field edges) and a history of significant deer damage as reported by the cooperating growers. At the Cooks location, MG 0.9 soybeans were planted in 30-inch rows at 110,000 seeds per acre on May 25, 2019. Plots 80 feet wide by 300 feet long were established running perpendicular to the south field edge shortly after planting (Fig. 1).

 

 

At the Metz location, MG 1.7 soybeans were drilled in 15-inch rows at 183,000 seeds per acre on May 28, 2019. Plots 60 feet wide by 300 feet long were established running perpendicular to the west field edge shortly after planting (Fig. 2).

 

 

Plot width was determined by the width of the cooperating farmer’s sprayer boom. Two 4 feet by 4 feet by 5 feet tall exclusion cages constructed of steel fence posts and Tenax C flex plastic mesh fencing were placed in each plot, one being 50 feet from the field edge and another 150 feet from the field edge, to measure soybean development and yield potential with zero deer pressure (Fig. 3).

 

 

 

Treatments were systematically assigned to plots to avoid confounding edge effects and replicated four times for a total of 12 plots arranged in a complete block design. In Metz, repellent applications were made on June 11 and July 12 using the cooperating grower’s self-propelled sprayer. In Cooks, repellent applications were made on June 18 and July 11 using the cooperating grower’s pull type sprayer. Both repellents were mixed and applied according to manufacturer instructions.

 

Deer damage was monitored from V1 until the V6/R1 growth stage, after which damage is thought to be less detrimental to yield. Our primary method was hand counting the number of plants damaged and percent defoliation relative to undamaged plants in 17.4 feet of row (Metz) or a ¼ m2 PVC quadrat (Cooks) at four random locations per plot every six to 10 days (Fig. 4). Counting began on June 17 in Metz and June 18 in Cooks, continuing for seven weeks.