Deer farmers’ cash went a long way

You have to hand it to North Carolina’s small, but powerful deer-farm cadre, especially Tom Smith, former CEO of Food Lion. He learned how to play the political game to get what he and his buddies want — a shot at removing the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s oversight of deer farms. The Commission has put in place a lot of restrictions on deer farms to try and keep Chronic Wasting Disease, a fatal disease that affects deer and elk, out of North Carolina.

The Farm Act of 2015 includes a section that takes it away from the Commission and gives control of those penned-in deer to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which is considered friendlier to deer farmers. The bill passed the N.C. Senate 44-2 and is under consideration by the N.C. House of Representatives.

In the legislature, pressure is defined by a four-letter word: c-a-s-h.

According to the web site followthemoney.org, Smith, an official with the N.C. Deer and Elk Farmers Association, gave $17,600 to Steve Troxler, the Commissioner of Agriculture, from 2000 to 2012. He also gave a total of $4,500 to Sen. Andrew Brock (R-Davie/Iredell/Rowan) and Sen. Brent Jackson (R-Duplin/Johnston/Sampson), primary sponsors of the farm bill that strips the Commission of control of deer farms. He also donated to Rep. Roger West (R-Marble), who chairs a committee that oversees the Commission and hasn’t spoken highly of it. Smith’s contributions to all candidates were $96,885, and he gave $21,250 more to the Republican Party.

Deer-hunting and conservation organizations oppose the change, but the state’s 275,000 deer hunters have received little support. At an Oct. 30, 2014 meeting, the Commission revealed that sportsmen had voted 1,968 to 8 at public meetings against Senate Bill 744, an effort last year that had a similar aim: take deer farms from under the Commission’s control.

Oddly enough, the deer and elk farmers’ trade group has only 14 members. According to state records, only three farmers have more than 75 cervids on their farms, and 26 of 36 permitted farms have fewer than 10 animals each. The main reason for their support is to make more money from the sale of animals, their hides, meat, antlers and organs.

We don’t know if Gov. Pat McCrory will sign the farm bill — Smith gave him $12,000 between 2008 and 2012 — but it may not pass muster during this session of the legislature. Besides the deer-farm issue, critics point to problems with perks in the bill for hog farmers in the home counties of Sen. Jackson, the bill’s primary-sponsor.

We believe the deer-farm section of the bill stinks just as much as a Duplin County hog farm. If McCrory winds up signing the bill with the deer-farm and hog sections intact, the smell will lead directly to Raleigh.