Increase in its importance to deer farming industry

Over the last 10-15 years there has been a marked trend towards deer farming on lower productivity, non-arable land - our hill and high-country. This type of land has traditionally been the preserve of sheep and beef cattle dry-stock farming, but more recently deer have also been very successfully integrated into these systems. Deer are farmed there ‘extensively’ in that compared with ‘intensive’ systems on better quality, lowland pastures, they use lower stocking rates and larger paddock and herd sizes.

Deer farmers have recognised that deer biology favours the hill and high-country environments. For example, the complex environments that characterise hill and high-country offer more scope to farmers to provide breeding hinds with more suitable habitats to give birth and successfully rear their calves.

Need to farm this environment sustainably

Deer farming systems typically involve stocking densities far greater than those of wild populations, so care is needed to manage the balance between optimal economic productivity and maintaining the integrity of the environment, particularly its biodiversity, soil quality and water quality.

The summary of this study is broken down into discrete topics as listed below; just click on those of interest.

1. What defines ‘hill country’ and ‘high country’?
2. What are the main issues concerning high country deer farmers?
3. What research has been done into high country deer grazing?
4. Where do hinds range in the high country?
5. When are hinds active?
6. What habitats do breeding hinds prefer at calving time?
7. Do adverse weather events affect a hind’s habitat usage?
8. Do deer avoid some areas?
9. Are home range sizes constant at all times of year?
10. What impacts do deer have on vegetation and plant biodiversity?
11. How can I determine the optimum hill/high country stocking rate?
12. Show me the science