Problems Facing Deer Farms
Ray Culp III is the founder of Sonador Capital Partners, LLC, a financial services firm based in Brentwood, Tennessee. In his free time, Ray Culp III takes pleasure in hunting, fishing, and researching deer farming. Deer farms have been on the rise in recent years, as many individuals are able to start a small farm while holding a full-time job elsewhere. Deer can be raised as food, for breeding purposes, for hunting preserves, and for velvet antler, which is especially popular in Asia as a food supplement. However, as this is a highly unregulated industry, many deer farmers face a number of hardships that more traditional farmers do not face, like raising capital and dealing with nonexistent production standards. One of the most critical problems deer farms face is chronic wasting disease (CWD). Similar to mad cow disease, CWD is a transmissible neurological condition that creates lesions in the brains of deer and elk, resulting in loss of body condition, strange behaviors, and death. CWD can significantly reduce deer populations. To learn more about CWD and other aspects of deer farming, visit the website of the North American Deer Farmers Association, www.nadefa.org.












