HoCo Harvest for the Hungry

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

The population of white-tailed deer in central Maryland has grown to a dangerous and unsustainable level. The damage caused is seen across all walks of life. State Farm estimates 31,500 deer-vehicle collisions occurred per year in Maryland over each of the last five years. Farmers face increased destruction of crops by deer, and our forest structure and biodiversity plummet in areas overrun with deer. Much of this overpopulation is due to an absence of natural predators which would normally control the population. To help mitigate the effects of deer on Howard County residents, the Howard County Office of Community Sustainability has started a program to incentivize hunters and farmers to increase their deer harvest. The hard work of processing deer, especially if endeavoring to remove enough to improve crop yield, is a significant barrier which stops many hunters and farmers from taking more than a couple of deer per year. To remove this barrier, “HoCo Harvest for the Hungry” was created to allow hunters and farmers to deliver harvested deer to participating deer processors for donation to Howard County food banks. Howard County pays for the processing and delivers the lean venison protein to our local food banks.