The last deer farmer in Virginia is slowly letting go of her herd.
"I don't have a payroll I live hand to mouth, I'm typical of every other small farmer in America today," said Gail Rose,a deer farmer in Shenandoah County.
She's the last deer farmer in Virginia.
"I'm the only person in Virginia who has a permit to raise deer, and that permit is not transferable, so when I phase out the deer, that will be the end of deer farming in Virginia," said Rose.
The end is near. Rose says with food prices up, she can't afford to feed her deer, so she's letting them go.
That's why she's getting help from the Valley Crop Mob, a group of young adults who help local farmers become more sustainable.
"We're really trying to encourage organic agricultural practices and I guess the Crop Mob is here to give the small farmers who are transitioning or who are organic a boost in man power that they don't have with the chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides that other farmers would be using," said Garrett Stern, co-founder of the Crop Mob.
"I was knocked out by the fact that we have a group of kids up here that are willing to give up their time and energy to help little farmers like me. What an exciting thing!" said Rose.
The group is helping Rose prune and plant a permaculture garden, so she'll have fruits and veggies that last year after year.
"If I can teach them a few skills and they can trade off by helping me accomplish a few major projects, it's a win-win, it's absolutely a win-win," said Rose.
A win-win situation so that even without the deer, Rose will have her garden as her main source of food and income.
Plus, growing her own food is something she'd like to teach younger generations.
"We've become so far removed from where food is produced and how it's produced that kids think that carrots are supposed to come in plastic bags and that's sad, that's just sad," said Rose.
The Valley Crop Mob started just about a year ago. The group tries to help a different farmer in the Valley once a month with major projects to make farming easier. To find out more about their efforts search for them on Facebook.
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