Charleston, W.Va. – West Virginia’s captive cervid farms are flourishing. A year after the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA) took over responsibility of the program from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, cervid farm owners said they are seeing the benefits.
“We have a great relationship with the WVDA,” said West Virginia Deer Farmers Association President Mark Cobb. “We don’t have a lot of Legislative issues and our rules are the envy of the deer community nationwide.” Cobb and his wife Anita are the owners of Gobbler’s Ridge Exotics in Jackson County.
Outgoing West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Walt Helmick said he couldn’t be more pleased at the progress of the state’s 34 new cervid farms. “We wanted to open up opportunities for deer farmers and we have done just that. Last summer the Cobb’s started processing venison and selling it to local restaurants. Several more cervid famers are planning to do the same. That’s success.”
The deer were processed at a WVDA-inspected meat processing plant which adheres to the same stringent inspection requirements as that of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Helmick stressed there is room for growth. Twenty-nine farms hold Class I licenses, which allow them to breed and propagate captive cervids and to create by-products for sale to others. Five other farms hold Class II licenses which allows them to offer cervid hunting on their property and also the slaughter and sale of venison.
Cobb said when the WV Deer Farmers Association met for their annual meeting recently, the members had a positive outlook on the future of deer farming in West Virginia.
“Ohio has around 900 deer farms, Pennsylvania about 1,100. We can and will expand the number of farms here in West Virginia,” said Cobb.
