A dramatic increase in world meat prices in response to demand from China is likely to have a more muted effect on venison prices.

An outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) has resulted in half of China’s pig herd being killed since August 2018, pushing Chinese pork prices and meat imports to record highs. According to Reuters, Chinese meat imports will peak in 2022, before declining as domestic production recovers and prices ease.   

Velvet prices ease: Concerns about the increasing supply of velvet has meant some importers were reluctant to commit to orders early in the season, says DINZ marketing manager Rhys Griffiths. This is despite fundamental indicators remaining strong in key markets.

The need to register NAIT tags once they are applied to deer is being brought home to farmers in the form of infringement notices issued by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). Compliance manager Peter Hyde is hoping that by “getting a few tickets out there”, the word will get around and compliance rates will improve.

Ensuring deer do well in the cold, wet months of winter is a priority for the deer industry

Deer Industry NZ supports He waka eke noa, the primary sector commitment to develop and implement an effective programme for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming

Velvet markets steady: NZDFA branch chairs meeting in Wellington earlier this month were briefed on the state of the velvet market by DINZ Asia markets manager Rhys Griffiths and DINZ board member Tony Cochrane.
 
They said New Zealand’s reputation as a food producer and the quality of NZ velvet ensured that it had a strong reputation in both traditional and health food markets. However, they noted that demand will have to increase to absorb future production increases to maintain steady returns.
 

The world market for New Zealand’s farm-raised venison is undergoing a period of change, with established markets evolving and new markets emerging.

Deer Industry NZ (DINZ) chief executive Innes Moffat says some important new markets have been developed as a result of active market development programmes by individual venison companies, or collectively by the five main venison companies, supported by DINZ.

A case study of greenhouse gas emissions on deer farms has shown that only small reductions in emissions can be achieved by making management changes, short of reducing the number of livestock on the farm.  

Farms with land classes that are suitable for other uses, such as carbon and/or production forestry, or cash cropping, are likely to have the greatest ability to reduce their emissions when farming is included in the Emissions Trading Scheme.

A big shout-out goes to the Southland Environment Advance Party. They walked away from the Environment Southland community awards last week with the “Environmental Action in Water and Land Management Award” and a $1000 cash prize.

Advance Party members at the awards dinner with Jill Gwynne, a representative of the award sponsor AON

Deer Industry NZ and the NZ Deer Farmers Association strongly encourage farmers who are concerned about aspects of the government’s proposed fresh water reforms to make a submission

Innes Moffat has been appointed chief executive of Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ). He has been with the organisation for 14 years.

DINZ is evaluating the government's fresh water policy proposals and will make a considered response later.

Chief executive Dan Coup says the proposals have not come as a surprise. “Clean rivers are a major public concern and were key election policies for both Labour and the Greens.”

He says DINZ and the NZDFA have for several years been encouraging deer farmers to complete a Farm Environment Plan and to regularly review how it’s tracking.

Keen ag students with deer on their minds: DINZ and the NZ Deer Farmers Association have just hosted four keen ag students on Future Deer Farmers Experience 2019, a whistlestop tour of our exciting industry.  

Deer farmers are starting to see a return of the seasonal venison price increase that has traditionally occurred in spring each year. This hasn’t come as a surprise, but the peaks and troughs in prices are hoped to be less marked than they were in the past.