Suckler farmer Michael Byron is plagued by deer encroaching on his land close to Cahir, Co Tipperary.

The land is bordered on one side by Coillte forestry and on the other by the N24 Waterford-Limerick road. While the county council has constructed deer-proof fencing on the road side, Coillte’s side has not been fenced for many years.

“Coillte fenced it 30 or 40 years ago but it’s all fallen down now,” said Byron.

“Thirty years ago you would nearly stop to look at a deer if you saw one.

“Now I could have anything from five to 20 deer grazing in my fields any day of the week.”

“A couple of years ago I sent a fellow up to one of my fields to see if my silage was fit to cut. I’d seen it a few days before and thought it was ready.

“He came back and told me there was no point in cutting it, there was nothing there. The deer had eaten most of it.”

Byron estimates that at least 10% to 15% of all his grass is eaten by deer coming down from Coillte’s woods.

“They eat 10% to 15% of the grass and it means that 10% to 15% of all the nitrogen I buy is wasted.

“I’ve had the soil sampled and it needs lime but at the moment, it would be a waste of money,” said Byron.

“The deer are eating what they like and no one in Coillte wants to take responsibility for them,” he added.

“They’ve given me a few rolls of barbed wire from time to time but they don’t want to take responsibility. They say deer are wild animals.

“But someone has to take responsibility. I shouldn’t have to take responsibility for it.

“It would cost me €10,000 or more to fence my land to keep them out.”

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