Feb 13, 2025
After 38 years of deer farming in Whanganui, I am reluctantly being forced to give it up due to health issues. Nothing too life threatening – just old age and an old heart.
Over these nearly four decades, I’ve seen a few ups and downs but pleased I stuck with the venison industry through thick and thin.
In 1987 after reading the excellent book ‘Deer Farming in New Zealand’ co-authored by Ian Spiers and David Yerex, I bought 40 red breeding hinds and a 360kg Fiordland Wapiti Bull as a terminal sire then fattening the hybrid weaners for venison production. But killing these young hybrid stags as 11-month juveniles was a tremendous waste of venison production potential.
As Spiers and Yerex outlined in their book, deer are programmed to reduce feed intake and growth in winter but also programmed for turbo charged growth in spring and summer. The same Elk red hybrid stags that weigh 100kg LW in mid-October will be 140kgs in four months’ time by mid-February with the added advantage of having the opportunity to harvest over $100 in two cuts of spiker velvet per 15-month-old stag. All adding up to an amazing 70% higher return by killing these hybrid animals in mid-February versus previously killing them in mid-October.
Back in 2010, I got involved in deer farming politics advocating to find new markets to move away from killing juveniles in spring to allow them to reach their young potential with summer growth and killing instead in February when they weigh 40% more. The DINZ Chair at the time responded that we need to supply our venison at the time the market wants it which is our spring and that was the end of the story then.
Thankfully, some of the smaller export companies listened opening up specialised Elk markets in North America rewarding instead of penalising Elk breeders for the larger cuts offering Elk schedules for summer killed 15-month yearlings without penalty for going over 85kg carcass weight.
I’ve just killed my final crop of hybrid yearlings with some of the 15-month stags exceeding 85kgs with an average carcass weight of 78 kgs across the line.
Average return per animal
11 month hybrid stags killed in October at 100kgLW and 54kgCW @ $10 = $540
15 month hybrid stags killed in February at 140kgLW and 78kgCW @ $10.30 = $800
Increase venison return for additional four months is +$260
Plus two cuts of spiker velvet is +$130
Total additional value of killing in February is +$390 or +70%
Finally, Wapiti / Elk terminal sires are having their day in the sun again. I will miss the camaraderie of my fellow deer farmers (all good bastards) and wish to acknowledge the foresight of our deer farming pioneers who established this wonderful industry especially the late Sir Tim Wallace.
Looking back to move forward, in the late 1980’s the venison schedule bottomed out to $3.50 per kg, but pleased I stuck with it. Deer are special animals. I resisted the temptation to move to velveting stags as changing takes time and chasing markets from season to season is like chasing your tail
You need to invest in a strategy and stick with it, refining from time to time and mine was in producing fast growing hybrid weaners for venison production. And I stuck with this successful formula for the last 38 years, enjoying mostly good returns.
I’ve always had an affinity for deer when I was a keen young hunter and have a huge debt of gratitude to Spiers and Yerex since I knew nothing about deer farming at the outset. I am also grateful to fellow deer farmers, Vets and friends who always offered helpful advice and support to me along the way. I am proud of the fact that what I advocated and fought for the past 20 years has now become a reality.
Andy Jarden, Omana Deer Farm
