Rocco Sloboda at his Boyers deer farm feeds an apple to one of his breeder does. Sloboda receives certification from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture for having animals not infected with chronic wasting disease.

VENANGO TWP — Rocco Sloboda bottle feeds newborn whitetail fawns four times a day at his deer farm, which receives herd certification for not having animals infected with chronic wasting disease from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

He said he enjoys hosting local college students who come to his 400-acre farm near Boyers to learn about genetics and Boy Scouts who come to see his 55 deer.

Sloboda, 70, even names some of the bucks and the does that carry genetic characteristics for massive antlers. When the bucks turn 3, he sells them to hunting preserves across the country where hunters pay thousands of dollars to hunt them.

He said he makes enough money to cover his costs, but raising deer is not easy and fulfilling the requirements of the department's certification program makes it even harder and adds to his business expenses.

All deer farms and game preserves with captive deer are required to participate in one of two CWD programs run by the Department of Agriculture. The Pennsylvania Game Commission manages CWD in wild deer.

Sloboda hopes research to provide a better understanding of the disease leads to easing some of the department requirements and results in the Pennsylvania Game Commission culling fewer wild deer, which he also cares about.

“They need funding for research. The state isn't giving them any money. Their solution is just kill them. They need to allocate funding to solve the problem instead of shooting them,” Sloboda said.

He said he hopes a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-15th, that would provide $15 million for CWD research, becomes law.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would provide grants to state agriculture departments, universities and independent research centers to hunt for a way to cure and prevent the spread of the fatal disease, which attacks the brain.

The state Department of Agriculture programs require fencing, testing and reporting of inventory, harvests, deaths and the transfer of any deer to or from the property. The more stringent herd certification program allows owners to sell deer outside of the state.

Those reporting requirements are in place to allow the department to trace the origins of an infected deer, said Shannon Powers, department spokeswoman.

All captive deer that die or are killed on deer farms or hunting preserves must be tested for CWD under program regulations.

Deer that test positive at the department's lab are sent to a USDA lab for confirmation.

“If confirmed, a farm is quarantined for five years. No deer can be moved to or from that farm. That quarantine is automatic and that quarantine is renewed every time an animal tests positive,” Powers said.

The game commission culls deer in disease management areas where CWD in deer has been confirmed to try to stop the disease from spreading. The commission is working with the USDA in planning a “targeted removal” in Bedford and Blair counties where the disease is reportedly spreading.Most cases of CWD in wild deer have been found in Southcentral counties, but infected deer have been found as far west as Jefferson and Clearfield counties.“They say Butler County doesn't have CWD. They just haven't found it yet.” Sloboda said.Most of the deer farms and preserves in Pennsylvania go through the Department of Agriculture's certification program, according to Powers.If a deer on a certified farm is found to have CWD, the source of the disease is mostly likely wild deer that interacted with captive deer through the fence, Sloboda said.“They know CWD is in the wild, but what are they doing about that?” he said.If a deer dies on his farm, he removes the brain and lymph glands and sends them to the department for testing. He said he pays for the shipping and the testing, and fills out a ream of paperwork.Annually, he said he completes and sends to the department a herd inventory form, a form listing the deer he sold, a form listing the deer he purchased, a form listing the fawns born on the farm, and a few other forms.Another form has to be sent if a deer escapes, he said.He attaches an ear tag for identification to one ear of every deer at his Fantasy Whitetails farm and a radio frequency identification tag required by the department to the other ear.The department tests all the deer on the farm for tuberculosis and brucellosis every three years, but five deer died from stress resulting from the testing, Sloboda said.He said it takes more than a dozen people to chase the deer from the pens into a barn with a pinch chute, where a department veterinarian shaves a patch of hair off the neck where blood is drawn for the tests to be performed.That work is in addition to the vaccinations he gives the deer once a year and the artificial insemination done on 20 doe every year.The work and the worry are worth it when he sees his bucks produce antlers measuring 400 inches in total growth. He said he started the business 15 years ago with a 200-inch buck.

The antlers on the whitetail bucks at Rocco Sloboda's deer farm in Boyers have begun to grow. Sloboda names some of the deer that carry genetic characteristics for large antlers.