It's been a rocky ride for deer farmers over the last decade. Marlborough Deer Farmers' Association president Justin Stevens, shied away from artificial insemination in his breeding programme because it was "too hit and miss" and he only uses feed supplement if he's going to make money out of it. "We look at the bottom line of everything," he says. The 37-year-old Southland-born farmer runs about 500 deer on 180 hectares of rolling country on Seddon's back door reports The Marlborough Express. The decline in deer numbers nationally has helped bump the price of venison up to a respectable $9 per kilogram. The other side of his operation, velvet production, is a different kettle of fish. Seddon's dry summers and good spring grass growth are perfect for good velvet growth, but the declining herd numbers haven't pushed up the price of velvet. Genetic advancements have counteracted any decline in velvet production, with some animals producing nearly twice the velvet of animals two decades ago. Justin hopes the announcement of further expansion to the New Zealand Velvet Marketing Company (NZVM) will provide salvation to farmers by removing some of the volatility from the industry. NZVM hopes to obtain 70 % of velvet supply. Justin believes the formation of a company like NZVM is overdue because "what we've had in the past just isn't working". He hopes NZVM will spell the end of buyers undercutting one another, which has plagued the industry and caused uncertainty. "It'll hopefully take out the volatility in the market so we can plan and try and budget for things we need to do." The velvet season is just kicking off on his property with the buttons, remnants of last season's antlers, dropping off his 250 velvet-producing stags. He now has about 60 days until the first cut of velvet is taken. It's a difficult time because he's weighing up the benefits of feeding his deer quality supplement to improve velvet growth against the possible monetary gains. The animals are sorted into small mobs according to their velvet growth so they are ready to be cut at about the same time. "
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.