Velvet companies and Deer Industry NZ (DINZ) are reporting strong underlying demand for NZ deer velvet antler in major Asian markets. The season begins in October each year and runs through to late January.

Venison has a great long-term future, say venison marketers. They predict a steady recovery in prices to farmers in the next 12 months as traditional markets recover and new markets bear fruit.

As the deer industry’s seven-year Passion2Profit (P2P) programme enters its final year, design work for a successor programme is well advanced. P2P is the Primary Growth Partnership between DINZ and the Ministry for Primary Industries that launched in 2015.

NZDFA branch chairs meet online| VelTrak use increasing as season gets underway | Great book published about 50 years of deer farming | Covid is coming, so be prepared and more!

Customers returning to restaurants in Europe | Hawke's Bay AP day | US retail activities | Next Generation stays farmside

Dr Lindsay Fung has been appointed producer manager at DINZ. He is currently the organisation’s environmental stewardship manager. DINZ is now advertising for a new environmental stewardship manager to replace Fung in his current role.