Deer farming has a long history of striving for better environmental stewardship, but it has had to take a hands-on approach to getting its message across to regulators. Industry representatives have found the best way to communicate is through ‘deer 101’ farm visits for officials and training days for regional council auditors. 

Deer farmers appear to be growing their deer quicker. Growth rates for stags and hinds in the 2018 and 2019 seasons were 4 per cent higher than in the average for the previous four seasons. This amounts to 2 kg of extra carcass weight for a deer killed on 1 November.

Seven years after the first deer farming Advance Parties (APs) were set up, one in five deer farmers belongs to one of 28 APs operating across the country. When Primary Growth Partnership funding of the APs ends in 2023, DINZ says it will continue to fund APs and their close cousins, the Deer Industry Environment Groups.

• Venison – short chilled season expected
• Winter grazing guidelines issued
• Essential facts on fresh water:
• Free training
• DINZ reviewing budget

- Hawke’s Bay recovering
- Deer Industry Conference: full coverage of first-ever virtual deer conference
- Next Generation 2020: visits to Smedley Station and Temco Agriculture plus workshop sessions
- Tech Webinar Series: velvet, reproduction, DeerPRO and industry updates in online programme

The deer farming industry says it is hoping the health of waterways, rather than arbitrary rules, will drive the way councils enforce the government’s new freshwater regulations.

The National Policy Statement on Freshwater Management (NPS-FM), National Environmental Standards for Freshwater (NES-FW), stock exclusion regulations, and regulations in the measurement and reporting of water takes are now law.

Venison marketers are building demand for NZ venison products that consumers can eat at home. The challenge is to find profitable channels to replace reduced demand from foodservice during Covid-19. Retail, on-line and meal kits all show potential. 

DINZ is inviting farmers and their advisors to a series of technical webinars on Zoom. Each webinar involves an expert presenting on a topic with viewers able to ask questions during the presentation. These are a great way to hear about a topic of interest in more depth and explore how it works in a real farm setting without spending hours on travel.

Prospects for deer velvet sales in Asia in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic look okay. While DINZ can’t rule out some continuing market disruption during the 2020-21 season, long-term demand in Asia for natural health food ingredients like velvet looks relatively stable.

Results from a just-completed trial at AgResearch Invermay have shown that progeny of stags with high CARLA scores grow better, faster and more profitably. High genetic merit for CARLA is really positive for deer productivity and welfare.

• On-line conference presos on YouTube and podcast
• Novel Korean market visit great for the NZ velvet brand
• Future deer farmers’ tour applications close today
• Hawkes Bay deer farmer briefing, 5th August
• Hawkes Bay NZDFA members – it’s our shout, 6th August
• Make your native bush sing
• Bigger is not always better
• Geoff Asher retires
• Lincoln deer scientist retires
• Calling rural professionals in the south
• Wintering barns, sediment traps and more

Our model is unique

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2020 Virtual Deer Industry Conference

Markets: China re-opening “great news”

Markets: Looking to NZ retail for venison sales

Industry News: Normality returning for venison processing

Markets: Bank upbeat about venison prospects

Covid-19 is still raging in Europe and the United States, but marketers of Cervena™ venison are pulling out the stops to keep this premium meat in front of consumers, says Deer Industry NZ (DINZ) venison marketing manager Nick Taylor.

“The Covid-19 lockdowns around the world have had a bigger impact on sales of venison than for lamb or beef, because – as a premium product – a much greater proportion of venison is sold through food service to chefs.”

Our venison marketers are actively developing their retail offerings in association with their market partners,” he says.