We have prepared a randomized complete block design of five cover crop mixes on a field that experiences deer grazing and have placed trail cameras on each of the crop mixes to quantify deer grazing activity by varieties (Fig. 2). We have planted four mixes that qualify for the Maryland cover crop program payments: Austrian winter pea/wheat; clover/wheat; rape, and wheat. We have also planted turnips, which have been described as a preferred deer forage in
many parts of the Eastern Shore. We will conduct a randomly selected burndown of half (lengthwise) of each of the plots at 3 weeks before planting, and leave the other half of cover crops green until the first trifoliate emergence We walk the center row of each plot and perform a stand count and count deer or rabbit damage to seedlings in each plot’s center row weekly for approximately one month after germination in both treatments (conventional burndown vs late burndown) and record herbivory and death of all individual seedlings. To assess damage of the entire field and plot, we will take high resolution drone imagery of the plots to potentially quantify plant emergence and damage. We will implement deer and rabbit-proof exclosures on each plot to document soybean plant potential without deer and rabbit grazing.

We will document deer activity and herbivory in each of the plots with camera traps and we will use a thermal imaging camera mounted on a drone to test the applicability of using this approach to measure populations and quantify broader scale deer activity and populations in the area. We propose flying approximately 6-12 evening flights on a pre-determined survey path along field edges near forest cover to determine the applicability of using drone sampling as a method to detect deer populations and activity in agricultural fields. Multiple flight data will provide us the opportunity to assess variability in deer activity and better understand the pre-requisite number of flights needed to determine a deer population estimate for a given area.

Finally, will measure soybean yield at harvest time and compare them to the treatments. We will also sample cover crop biomass in December and at planting time to estimate the biomass produced by cover crops.

Update:
This study was hampered by delayed planting that led to cover crops senescing prior to planting. Planting into self-terminated cover crops did not appear to affect harvest rates in different plots. Deer seemed to prefer crimson clover/winter wheat mix in April, suggesting deer management efforts could be particularly effective hunting over that cover crop mix.

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