Southern stags pull the buyers

Early stag sales around the country report largely positive results, although news seems better in the South Island than in the North reports Rural News. Graham Carr, Peel Forest Estate, Geraldine, says an innovative sales technique helped make his sale a success. "˜We changed our selling format. We displayed them in pens as usual but instead of pushing them on to our revolving platform, we presented the stags to buyers on a large 3x2m screen, on to which we projected video footage. "˜This let the buyers get a much better view of the stags in their natural environment. It also gave better viewing of their antlers from various angles that is not possible when in their pens and it also reduced stress on the animals. "˜The sale itself was very good "“ 40 out of 41 were sold, which is excellent in comparison to other sales.' English trophy genetic stags averaged $8415 and venison genetic stags averaged $4875. The top English stag was sold to Kurow's Foveran Deer Stud for $26,000, while Sarnia Deer Stud in Rotorua purchased a pure Furzeland Stag for $21,000 and third highest stag at $20,000, a son of Motdonis, was sold to a client in Argentina. The top priced venison genetic stag, with breeding values of 23.09 for 12 month growth rates, ranking No.2 in the country, sold for $16,000 to Totara Hills Estate, Balclutha. Peel Estate has been working with the University of Otago on Johne's analysis in bloodlines, and were able to market some stags as Johne's resistant, an industry first.