IFA Calls for Immediate Payment for Removal of Female Deer

IFA Animal Health Chair David Hall has called on the Department of Agriculture to introduce a payment for every female deer removed under the Deer Management Programme this season.

“Since the programme got underway in February 2025, 15 Deer Management Units have been established and local co-ordinators appointed. Deer larders are being set up at strategic locations across the country, and a new tag-and-trace system is in place. Now, farmers need to see these measures translate into deer removals on the ground,” David Hall said.

“The open season for female deer began on Sunday and runs until 31 March. The Department must introduce a payment for every female deer removed by licensed hunters without delay. Targeting females is essential to bringing deer numbers down in areas where populations are too high.”

“The risk of bovine TB spreading between deer and cattle is the most pressing concern for farmers in areas with high deer numbers. A TB breakdown puts enormous financial and emotional strain on farm families. Farmers in these areas are also dealing with damaged fences and losses to grass and crops. Targeted deer removals in these areas must be part of the Department’s efforts to reduce the risk of TB,” David Hall said.

David Hall said “All stakeholders, including the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Coillte, must work with the Department, local Deer Management Units, farmers, other landowners and licensed hunters. Deer moves between farmland, forestry, and public land. Removals must be co-ordinated across these areas if the programme is to bring numbers down where action is needed most.”

“The Irish Deer Management Strategy Group has had ample time to put their infrastructure in place.  It is now well time farmers started seeing meaningful action on the ground by reducing deer numbers and the impact they are having on our farms,” he concluded.