Aug 14, 2026
Innovation in action at Next Generation 2026 - Lynda Gray
Innovation and the role it plays in the farmed deer and wider agribusiness sector was a recurring theme at this year’s Next Generation event, jointly hosted by the Waikato and Bay of Plenty branches of the NZDFA.
The group of over 40 young and enquiring minds had plenty to ponder on visits to businesses spanning the venison and velvet supply chain, all of which had used innovative thinking and applications for advancement.
The first stop was at the Gallagher Group’s distinctive orange-highlighted head office and manufacturing base on the southside of Hamilton. Attendees heard how the privately owned company, established in 1938, had applied practical innovations to grow and become a global leader in animal management solutions that include electronic identification and weighing systems, animal performance software, and electric fencing.
One of their latest developments, the eShepherd collar, was gaining a foothold in the wearables market, Gallagher’s Darrell Jones said, adding that the technology had applications well beyond virtual fencing. Several Next Gen participants wanted to know when eShepherd would be available for deer use. Deer were on the Gallagher radar, Jones said, but the immediate priority was to finetune the collar technology for use in beef and dairy systems.
A walk through the electronics and plastic extrusion and moulding divisions gave a glimpse of the technologies used and applied for turning out circuit boards and electric fencing accessories.
Balancing out the business visits were stop-offs at two vastly different deer farming systems, where each farm was developing their business in line with changing markets and within the constraints and opportunities of their environment and land.
At Raroa Red Deer Farm in Karāpiro, farm managers Steve Barrett and Nicky Tobeck were consolidating and refocusing from a velvet-dominant system to a three-way velvet, venison and trophy mix to spread the risk, working on the principle that when one market is down the others are up. They were increasing the number of breeding hinds, and their goal was to finish all progeny on farm to a 60 kg carcass weight. They were in the process of replacing deer incompatible endophyte grasses and were also investigating the best summer and winter crops. While future-focused, their deer farming future was in limbo due to negotiations around the Waikato Expressway extension, which was set to carve through the middle of the farm.
After that, attendees visited Ian Scott’s Oraka Wapiti farm, which is run in conjunction with a highly productive dairy farm and his vet business. He explained that the overarching goal was to produce more from the same land area in an environmentally stable way. He challenged the group to “think about the numbers all the time” and use them to guide asset development and growth. An example of Oraka’s newest asset development was the conversion of a 1000 sqm goat milking shed for indoor weaner wintering last year.
On day two the group was then split in two and visited the Rotorua processing plant of either Silver Fern Farms or Duncan NZ (with this writer attending the Silver Fern Farms plant tour). At the Silver Fern Farms plant, attendees got a look-and-see appreciation of how technology was used from the moment of animal arrival to ensure strict health, welfare, hygiene, and food safety standards were monitored and maintained along the processing chain. Several attendees said they were unaware of the level of data captured and required to meet compliance and traceability requirements.
The final stop, to NZ Deer Supreme, was an introduction to deer co-product use within traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a centuries-old health system for diagnosing, treating and preventing illness. Principal and founder Dr Kin explained that deer were a prized animal in TCM and a source of highly valued ‘nose to tail’ co-products, including tails, sinews and pizzles for use in various remedies and treatments.
Anecdotal feedback from the Next Gen group about this year’s event was positive. The broad mix of topics and speakers provided lots to think about and gave a taste of career development and opportunities across the deer industry – proof of a job well done by the NZDFA and the Waikato and Bay of Plenty branches.
To the New Zealand Deer Farmers Association (NZDFA),
On behalf of Wintec and our students, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to the New Zealand Deer Farmers Association for welcoming and hosting us at the recent Next Generation Conference.
A special thank you must go to Lindsay Fung and Evan Potter for the time, effort, and organisation that went into making the event such a valuable experience. The conference provided our students with a fantastic opportunity to step outside the classroom, connect with people working across the deer industry, and gain a greater understanding of the many different aspects that contribute to New Zealand’s deer sector.
We are particularly grateful to the deer farmers who generously opened their farms to our students. Being able to visit working deer farms, see different farming systems in practice, ask questions, and learn directly from those within the industry was an invaluable experience. The willingness of farmers to share their knowledge, experiences, successes, and challenges made these visits especially meaningful for our students.
We would also like to acknowledge and thank the sponsors who helped make the event possible:
NZDFA Waikato, NZDFA Bay of Plenty, Deer Industry New Zealand, Datamars, and PGG Wrightson.
Your support of events such as the Next Generation Conference creates important opportunities for students and those entering the rural sector to build industry connections and develop their knowledge.
A big thank you also goes to the team at Gallagher Animal Management for providing such an interactive and engaging tour. The opportunity to see the technology, equipment, and innovation that support modern animal management gave our students another valuable perspective on the wider agricultural industry.
Thank you to NZ Deer Supreme for sharing the history behind the business and providing an interesting product display. Experiences such as this help students understand the journey from farm production through to the development and marketing of deer products, and the importance of the wider value chain.
We would also like to extend a very special thank you to Trent Cooper and the team at Silver Fern Farms for the valuable site tour. Being able to see this part of the industry firsthand provided an important learning opportunity and helped our students connect what they learn in the classroom and on farm with the wider processing sector.
For our students, opportunities such as the Next Generation Conference are incredibly valuable. They provide not only practical learning but also the chance to meet people within the industry, ask questions, hear different perspectives, and begin building professional connections as they prepare for careers within New Zealand’s rural animal and agricultural sectors.
Thank you once again to NZDFA, Lindsay, Evan, the farmers, sponsors, businesses, speakers, and everyone else who contributed their time and knowledge to making the conference such a welcoming and worthwhile experience.
Ngā mihi nui,
Raechel Robertson
On behalf of Wintec and our students
Program Coordinator Rural Animal Healthcare Assistant
Rural Animal Healthcare Assistant Kaiako/Tutor
