Pāmu confidence in deer industry sees investment in future

Grant McNaughton, Pāmu General Manager (Lower South Island)

Production and productivity will be a sharpened focus for Pāmu Farms of New Zealand in 2025, according to Pāmu General Manager (Lower South Island) Grant McNaughton, speaking at a tour of three Pāmu deer farms in the Te Anau Basin. The tour was put on by Pāmu as they look to expand their deer numbers. 

“We wanted to put on this field day to show that we are confident in the deer industry and in our farming systems, that we are investing in our deer strategy, in genetics, and in infrastructure,” said McNaughton. “We’re all about production and productivity going forward and getting more return on investment from the land through optimising our farming systems.” 

The farms toured were Haycocks, Mararoa and Lynmore stations, in that order – starting with the steeper terrain of Haycocks Station, around 40km from Te Anau. At Haycocks, attendees were given a brief overview of Pāmu’s deer involvement and operations. After that, farm manager Paul Ewing gave a short history of Haycocks Station before leading discussions around mating, wintering and fawning in an extensive farming environment. 

The farm maps provided showed the challenges of farming Haycocks, with the farm long and narrow (37km from end to end), meaning moving stock could be a challenge requiring adequate forethought. But Ewing, manager of Haycocks for 32 years, is well-versed in such matter, having seen a lot in his time managing the station, including the introduction of deer, 180km of deer fencing erected over three years, and the development of the Hikurangi block at the northern end, incorporated into Haycocks Station in 2008. 

From Haycocks, the convoy of white utes and orange vests headed to Mararoa Station, once owned by Sir Tim Wallis’s Alpine Deer Group back in the 1970s-80s, where manager Matt Canton talked about terminal (hybrid) breeding with red deer x wapiti and their flexible approach to weaning. At Mararoa, 40 percent of their hinds are mated with wapiti as they look to supply North American demand for larger cuts. 

Canton also discussed their flexible approach to weaning, where they don’t decide on post-or pre-rut until six months out, when factors such as available feed and hind conditions are weighed up. 

And finally, it was on to Lynmore Station and its Telstar block, where the conversation turned to finishing. The Telstar block has traditionally been used as the finishing grounds for Haycocks weaners, though weaners from other Pāmu farms, namely Eyre Creek and Mount Hamilton, have also sent weaners for finishing in recent years. 

Wayne Webb, farm manager at Lynmore Station, talked about the integrated system between Lynmore and Haycocks, but also talked more about team culture and the importance of building a strong culture among its younger team members. The degree of open communication between the three farm managers was also mentioned as a key component of the farms’ successes. 

Another area of interest was the various registered QEII covenants across the stations – 373ha at Haycocks, 458ha at Mararoa and 90ha at Lynmore – with an acknowledgement that there are more high-value ecological sites to be investigated. Water testing and quality was also covered, with a clear commitment to ongoing measuring and monitoring of stream health. 

“With Pāmu technically New Zealand’s biggest deer farmer, it was exciting to hear that they are committing to deer due to confidence in the industry,” says DINZ CEO Rhys Griffiths. “It was also good to have some of our DINZ team out in the field with deer industry stakeholders, sharing what DINZ is focused on in those all-important side conversations.”