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DEER INDUSTRY NEWSISSN 1176-0753

Also in this issue:

Issue 48 • June/July 2011 • Official magazine of Deer Industry New Zealand and the NZDFA

TIMARU: WE CAME,

WE DEERED, WE WON!

Comprehensive Deer Industry Conference coverage

• Raincliff Stationfieldday• BranchChairmanprofile:PaulMucalo• EdmundNoonanstepsintoNZDFAChairman’srole• Deerveterinariansconsider“deerfarmingutopia”• Parasitetests:Howusefularethey?• EnvironmentalawardforRodway

Issue No 48 • June/July 2011 3

Timaru conference one out of the bagThere was something rather special about the 2011 Deer Industry Conference. It’s hard to put it down to any one factor but this year whole was definitely greater than the sum of the parts.

For the first time in many years, the registrations were oversubscribed. More than

250 people came to Timaru and the SBS Events Centre proved to be an excellent venue. Destination Conference Management returned as conference organiser this year and with the strong support of our conference sponsors and the usual smooth running behind the scenes, Pat Johnston and her team ensured that conference goers received remarkably good value for their money over the three days.

The “Who Deers Wins” theme, underpinning an emphasis on the next generation of deer farmers, was an inspired choice and the whole conference got into the spirit of it. The presence of invited students from local secondary schools was just one indicator that the next generation really had arrived.

And if attendees were expecting to quietly nod off during

lengthy presentations from the same old faces, they would have been very pleasantly surprised. Yes, there were graphs and tables and statistics about production, but there was much, much more – yes, even a Michael Jackson song.

The industry reports were skilfully woven into a programme that was built around Deer Industry New Zealand’s strategic vision for venison and velvet. The points in these strategies are clear and easy to follow – and just to be sure they were handed out on business-card sized “pledge cards” for deer farmers to carry and hold their organisation accountable.

There was a real “down-to-business” feeling about the rollout of the productivity road map and the announcement of a productivity leadership group. Sponsors and industry participants got right behind the theme and gave quality presentations.

Neil Dickson of NZ Light Leathers and his European representative Carlo Cioni, for example, brought a touch of glamour to the event with a timely reminder about the top-end garments and accessories that use high-quality deer hides. Sharon Angus of Silver Fern Farms brought guests well into the 21st Century with a funky presentation on the role of social media in selling venison and Melonie Sheppard of Lone Star Farms presided over a hugely entertaining and thought-provoking session on staff issues.

It was all good quality stuff, but a couple of highlights from the two days in Timaru stand out for me. The first was inspirational Marlborough farmer, Doug Avery. He farms sheep and beef, not deer, but his story of responding in the face of adversity and his approach to change resonated strongly with every farmer in the room (see page 10).

The other big highlight was the centrepiece “Faces of the Future” forum, in which five young people and five of the older generation each gave their perspective on the industry. It was fascinating and engaging, and finished the conference on a strong note of optimism for the future.

The two days at Timaru were capped off perfectly by a field day at Raincliff Station. David Morgan, his family and very able team pulled off an extraordinary event, with more than 200 guests arriving to look at an exciting mixed enterprise. There’s more about Raincliff Station on page 26.

This was my 14th deer industry conference. It wasn’t the

editorial

Deer Industry News is published by Deer Industry New Zealand six times a year in February, April, June, August, October and December. It is circulated to all known deer farmers, processors, exporters and others with an interest in the deer industry. The opinions expressed in Deer Industry News do not necessarily reflect the views of Deer Industry New Zealand or the NZ Deer Farmers’ Association.

Circulation enquiries: Deer Industry New Zealand, PO Box 10-702, Wellington, Ph 04 471 6114, Fax 04 472 5549, Email [email protected]

Editorial and advertising enquiries: Words & Pictures, PO Box 27-221, Wellington, Ph 04 384 4688, Fax 04 384 4667, Email [email protected]

Cover:The deer industry conference at Timaru last month was the best attended for years. The programme was fresh, innovative and welcomed by attendees. See pages 4–30 for conference report. Photos: Phil Stewart.

... continued on page 5

ContentsEditorial: Timaru conference one out of the bag ................................................................... 3Deer industry conference:

DINZ sets out the big picture ............................................................................................... 4Putting meat on the bones of the productivity strategy .................................................... 5Cooperation and partnership will get us further ................................................................ 6Deer progeny test launched ................................................................................................ 9Doug Avery: Rethink inspires positive change .................................................................. 10NAIT update – legislation delayed .................................................................................... 12Provelco calls for industry unity ......................................................................................... 12NZ Light Leathers adds touch of glamour ......................................................................... 13Brush up your people skills ................................................................................................ 14Silver Fern Farms digital project ........................................................................................ 14Venison enjoying stability ................................................................................................. 15Mountain River’s market innovations ................................................................................ 16No room for complacency: Tacon ....................................................................................... 18Firstlight harnessing power of EID ..................................................................................... 18Velvet sector: telling a compelling story ........................................................................... 19Science provides backbone for velvet industry ................................................................. 20John MacDonald looks back .............................................................................................. 22Succession planning: Never too early to start! .................................................................. 23Faces of the future forum ................................................................................................... 24Superb field day at Raincliff Station ................................................................................... 26Awards night caps off great conference ............................................................................ 29

Stagline supplement:NZDFA AGM 2011 ............................................................................................................... 31NZDFA Branch Chairman profile: Paul Mucalo .................................................................. 32Executive Committee profile: Kris Orange ......................................................................... 34Executive Committee Chairman profile: Edmund Noonan ............................................... 35

Market Report: Venison and Velvet ............................................................................................................. 36

Deer veterinarians’ conference:Deer veterinarians consider “industry utopia” ................................................................... 38Parasite diagnostic tests: How useful? .............................................................................. 40

General news:Animal health roundup: Manawatu .................................................................................. 41Young manager thriving on award-winning property ..................................................... 42Deer yards razed at Peel Forest ........................................................................................... 43

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Deer Industry News44

deer industry conference 2011

DINZ sets out the big pictureDeer Industry New Zealand Chair, Andy Macfarlane, and CEO, Mark O’Connor, helped set the tone for the agribusiness session with a broad vision for the industry.

Picking up on the earlier address by Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary, John Allen, Macfarlane focused initially on branding. He said the New Zealand farm-raised venison brand is about trust, integrity and internal discipline.

He noted that the industry spends between $660,000 and $1 million per annum on science. This investment was needed the “grease the track” and speed up progress.

Thinking outwardly meant being able to recognise opportunities and competitive advantages and being aware of our own capabilities – or lack of them. For both venison and velvet we are in an internationally dominant position with little competition. “If any industry can drive that advantage home, we should be able to.”

Attitude was also important. The deer industry was characterised by a strong attitude featuring experimentation, entrepreneurship, innovation, persistence and resilience. “It’s also about the thrill of the chase and we need to chase young people who want to be in that space. They are attracted to deer because they love the brand of the industry.”

Taking up the “Who Deers Wins” theme of the conference, Mark O’Connor said industry “Visions” could seem remote but they are important because they provide accountability. Initiatives by DINZ and others can be judged on their ability to get the industry closer to achieving its vision.

If the 3,000 deer farmers, 14 venison processors, 25 velvet processors and marketers, DINZ staff, scientists, veterinarians and others who make up the industry can agree on a vision, then there is something to aim for, O’Connor said.

For the record, the 2010–2014 vision statements for venison and velvet are, respectively:

“Inspire the New Zealand deer industry to profitably grow and market the world’s best red meat” and

“New Zealand deer velvet is recognised, valued and sold as the best as its class in Asian markets”

Each of these is underpinned by a series of five key

strategies (see www.deernz.org/n37.html for the full vision statements). A wallet-sized summary of the vision and strategies was handed out to attendees to help spread the message and get buy-in to an agreed direction for the industry by all those in the value chain.

O’Connor said that the key to successful transformation within an industry – to “Deer to Win” – is a willingness to change behaviour. In the case of the deer industry, changed behaviours could be seen in markets as exports had been progressively refined from whole carcasses into products tailored to the needs of restaurants and retail customers. On the farm, there was a growing willingness to learn the lessons from the Focus Farm programme, with 1,200 farmers having attended field days in the past 12 months.

He then challenged attendees to come up with some innovative thinking of their own. A couple of brain teaser exercises got people involved and soon realising that to make good decisions you need to put aside your mind-set and assumptions and notice what is really important.

“You need to learn to work under pressure and make good decisions when conditions are against you. Right now, the outlook is reasonable, but we shouldn’t be complacent! This is a good time to contemplate changing the way we do things.

“Leadership is about thinking, questioning, acting independently, being genuine and about showing others how they can be better. Effective leadership and behaviour change are two important enablers if we want to achieve our visions.

“You’ll be a leader if you’re one of the better performing farmers and you’re willing to share what you’ve learned with others to help them in their farming performance. This industry started with risk takers who dared.”

In conclusion O’Connor said that while the industry “stood on the shoulders of giants”, that was only a small part of it. “You the industry of 2011 have your own skills and passions – you should do nothing but look forward.”

Who Deers Wins!

Special Conference Report ■ by Phil Stewart, Deer Industry News Editor



Putting meat on the bones of the productivity strategyThe productivity segment of the agribusiness session on day one of the conference honed in on strategy number four of the Venison Industry Strategic Intent: Improve on-farm productivity – via integration of R&D, farm management and people into profitable farming systems.

Introducing the session, DINZ Chair, Andy Macfarlane, traced the evolution of the meaning of “productivity” to the deer industry. He said the first productivity horizon involved catching deer; this was followed by a period of breeding them up – a numbers game with no reference to productive efficiency. The third horizon recognised productivity had to be increased and involved initiatives such as DEEResearch, Johne’s Management Ltd and the Productivity Strategy.

Macfarlane said the industry is now reaching for a fourth horizon 20 years ahead – looking at what is needed to give deer farmers’ children and grandchildren something to aspire to in the industry.

He announced the formation of a Productivity Leadership Group (PLG) to be chaired by veterinarian and deer farmer Mandy Bell. She will be joined by retired AgResearch scientist Gavin Sheath, Paddy Boyd of Haldon Station and Andy Macfarlane to provide a link to DINZ. A fifth member of the group with a marketing background might be added later on.

The productivity “road map” involves six strategic pipelines for research and dissemination of information: animal health, physiology and genetics, feed and nutrition, freedom to operate (environment and animal welfare), processing and value chain. Macfarlane said a group of four people representing farmers, science, industry and DINZ would be in charge of each of the six pipelines, or streams. The groups, which will be convened in August, would be prioritising the work needed in order to achieve the industry-defined targets.

DEEResearch would be charged with science delivery and

a farm management sub-group would facilitate integrating the science into profitable on-farm systems.

Before August, the PLG will meet with marketers to understand what products they believe the consumer will require in 20 years. Such information is critical in order to settle on robust productivity goals.

“We want to be market led,” he said. “The outcome is about dollars per hectare.”

While returns per kilogram of meat were understood, not many people were aware of their cost structures per kg of meat or velvet produced, Macfarlane said. “That’s not very good – we seem to know more about dairy benchmarking than benchmarking in our own industry.”

Macfarlane said the productivity road map gives something tangible to aspire to and targets that the groups can be measured against.

Making the DIFFerence programme updateDINZ Producer Manager, Tony Pearse, continued the presentation with a report on the “Making the DIFFerence” Deer Industry Focus Farms programme. He said the Venison Industry Strategic Intent and its Productivity Strategy underpinned the programme. The unique partnership through DEEResearch and AgResearch’s Venison Supply Systems research programme gave the deer industry access to the tremendous scientific expertise chiefly housed at Invermay but also across the breadth of AgResearch’s disciplines.

This was complemented at the farm level by the three “comms”: community, commitment and communication. Decisions about a Focus Farm programme had to be made locally for the initiative to work, Pearse said.

There are five national productivity projects under way. Four of them will be new ones based on the original Beef and Lamb Monitor Farm model. Two are initiated (Canterbury and Northern Regions) and the South Canterbury project is getting under way after the deer industry conference. When the Hawke’s Bay project gets under way next year, some of the funding will be used for a survey carried out by AgResearch to find out how we can improve technology transfer.

The Southland productivity project had a slightly different angle. Operating as a partnership between Landcorp and the Southland and Fiordland branches of NZDFA, the programme involves two commercial farms with an emphasis on integration of deer with sheep and cattle farming and a number of the key Landcorp farming properties in the Te Anau basin covering breeding units, breeding and finishing and specialist finishing blocks across all three livestock species.

biggest – that honour would go to the 25th anniversary conference in Queenstown in 2000 – but in terms of quality of content, originality and sheer joie de vivre, it is the best I’ve attended. And I’m not the only one. Vets at the Deer Veterinarians’ conference in Queenstown were still buzzing about the deer industry conference a fortnight later.

Murray Coutts and the South Canterbury/North Otago Branch, Pat Johnston, Tony Pearse, our sponsors and the many others behind this excellent three days should be thanked and congratulated.

I hope you enjoy the coverage we’ve brought you in this issue of Deer Industry News and look out for the video clips of interviews with some of the presenters, which will be up on YouTube in the coming weeks.

■ Phil Stewart, Editor, Deer Industry News

Premium conference sponsor: Silver Fern Farms Industry partners: Stanfield European Red Deer Stud, Telford Rural Polytechnic, Rabobank and Provelco

Editorial continued from page 3



Looking at the programme theme of “more, heavier, earlier”, Tony Pearse said “more” is now a given and the emphasis was now on “heavier, earlier and better”.

“More tangible calves on the ground through all aspects of reproduction success drives profitability and there’s nothing we can do better than to lift conception and weaning rates from the low 80s into the 90s. The Focus Farms have all achieved that at least for conception.

“Heavier is about genetics and effective feeding and there are outstanding genetics available for velvet and venison. It’s also about smarter inputs.

“Earlier is about utilising the tremendous ability of the hind and fawn to grow seasonally and meet the chilled market demand. We might have to revisit that as we move into the tougher country – maybe ‘earlier’ is impractical in that country because of the additional cost and there might be a better 18-month system that could work in that environment to complement the excellent gains made in meeting early spring chilled demand.

“Better is about venison quality, animal health, velvet profitability, genetics and the deer progeny test, management and industry knowledge.”

Pearse said the national Focus Farm conference provided a community for those involved and would also integrate closely with the productivity road map and the working group.

“Wider benchmarking is a ‘must have’ and we need to encourage participants to record and share their own performance and KPIs at these days.”

He thanked all those involved in the “Making the Difference” programme – the sponsors, rural media, community groups, scientists, vets, field day visitors and of course the Focus Farmers themselves.

The transition from big picture presentations to reporting from the grass-roots level continued with contributions from two Focus Farmers whose three-year programmes have recently ended: Tim Aitken (The Steyning, Hawke’s Bay) and Ross Stevens (Whiterock Station, Canterbury).

The Steyning storyTim Aitken said the field days at The Steyning always had a practical focus, usually featuring three important topics with information that could be tried on your own farm, for example, weaning, crops and feed budgeting.

“Be positive” was an important part of the plan, although events like successive droughts and an outbreak of Johne’s disease could be challenging. Working with veterinarian and facilitator Richard Hilson and Professor Frank Griffin to tackle

Johne’s had been a highlight of the programme, Aitken said.

Timeliness of field days and the information provided was also considered, so that the lessons learned could be put to immediate use.

Science played a big part in the success of the programme, Aitken said. “We regularly tapped into the expertise of AgResearch, Massey, Farmax®, Agricom, the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and the Disease Research Lab at Otago.”

The leadership of Richard Hilson was important. While he paid close attention to detail and planning, Hilson also injected a great sense of fun into proceedings and worked very well with Focus Farmers Tim Aitken and Lucy Robertshawe. Strong local sponsorship from Firstlight Venison and others helped raise the profile of the programme and also provided supporters with valuable exposure.

Whiterock StationRoss and Sally Stevens completed a three-year monitor farm programme last year that has transformed the performance of the station with a production system that fits closely with the sometimes challenging environment.

The station includes 300 hectares suitable for fawning and wintering hinds and a 185-hectare “powerhouse” of drillable country where crops are grown to get deer and cattle quickly through to killable weights and raise replacements.

Showing the reproductive performance on the station between 2006/07 and 2010/11, Stevens showed the fawning percentage for hinds mated had lifted from 75 to 85 percent over the period, while mixed age hinds had gone from 85 to 92 percent. “We certainly don’t see ourselves as high performers, though we do know where we are,” he said.

Growth rate data accumulated over the years had proved very useful and gave good information on the comparative growth rates of red and wapiti-sired stags. Wapiti played a big part in the station’s achievement of getting more slaughter animals away earlier. For example, mid-July weights for the wapiti stags were 88kg compared with 70kg for the reds.

“The first group away hardly see a blade of spring grass,” he said. Planning feed was a big part of the jigsaw and helped identify where the holes were occurring. Over the past two seasons, more than 90 percent of the slaughter animals have been gone by Christmas.

“Our breeding has stayed much the same over the focus

Productivitypowerhouses:ProducerManager,TonyPearse(centre)withRossStevens,Whiterock Station(left)andTimAitken,The Steyning(right).

Funding for technology transfer project announcedThe Sustainable Farming Fund has agreed to put $90,000 into a three-year communications project entitled “After the field day”. The project aims to capture the excellent information that often emerges around the barbecue and in the car on the way home from Focus Farm field days.

The objective is to provide the information in the form of simple take-home messages sent out through a variety of channels – not just print but also websites, blogs, rural media and the YouTube clips that Deer Industry News started producing last year.

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farm period, so I think it’s the feeding that has made the difference,” Stevens said. “Sometimes I think we get too obsessed with the breeding – at the end of the day you’ve got to be able to express those genetics.”

He said there had been some comment that sending animals away so early arrested the growth potential of the first groups. “If you could see what pressure we are under in spring you’d understand why we need to get those animals away so early.”

Looking at the bottom line Stevens said the farm was now delivering a genuine profit. It has become a sustainable business that takes care of the triple bottom line. Gross farm income had risen to more than $500,000 since 2008 and profits had also grown.

“It’s a small business, but this has been a very good outcome for Whiterock when you look at where we’ve come from.”

During a question and answer session Ross Stevens said taking part in the programme was the best thing he and Sally had done in their farming career. Working directly with AgResearch scientists had conferred huge benefits “If we stop the science then we lose our most valuable tools.”

Tim Aitken said he had been nervous about entering the programme given the good farmers in the district. However it gave them the confidence to try new things and culminated in their 2010 Silver Fern Farms Hawke’s Bay Farmer of the Year award. “I would definitely recommend a programme like this to young deer farmers!”

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Cooperation and partnerships will get us furtherIt was hard not to get caught up in the enthusiasm of Foreign Affairs and Trade Secretary, John Allen. The keynote speaker for the deer industry conference agribusiness session declared himself an optimist for New Zealand’s trade prospects.

He said the rising wealth of our customers in emerging markets such as China, India and South America was accompanied by rising demand for quality products. Touching on several themes, Allen said investment in market development and science as cornerstones to our export success. Cooperation was also important.

“If New Zealand wants to sustain a premium position in the market we have to avoid competing away that position. Cooperation and market discipline lie at the heart of our ability to sustain performance.”

Brand also matters, Allen added. Increasingly discerning markets in Asia and Europe were interested in the food journey and the standards used in its production. He urged farmers to think of the emissions trading scheme as an opportunity rather than an impost. “Think of it as an opportunity to go into the market and parade it as the only statutory framework of its kind in the world and talk about the advantages it presents, particularly in the very wealthy markets – the European markets.”

The last important piece of the jigsaw to ensure success was that of attitude, Allen said. New Zealanders needed to avoid being too defensive and erecting barriers to developments such as foreign investment. “If we’re going to be operating in that world environment then we’ve got to expect flows both ways. If you think we’re going to develop a growing and sustainable relationship with China and some of our southeast Asian neighbours without some notion of reciprocity ... then I think you are not understanding those countries and opportunities.”

We also need more risk takers, Allen said. Noting that deer farmers are risk takers by nature, he said many New Zealanders have a strong aversion to failure. Willingness to take risks went hand in hand with a willingness to embrace growth and advocate positively for change.

He reminded guests that New Zealand’s ambassadors and Trade and Enterprise staff are there to help exporters. “We want to build a partnership between the Government, farmers, marketers and their customers that can create real value for this country.”

Not surprisingly, the first question from the floor was about progress on the free trade agreement negotiations with Korea. Allen conceded that while there was political activity, these talks were not where they needed to be.

On the subject of establishing more balanced trade with China, Allen said it was about recognising niche opportunities and establishing partnerships as Fonterra had done. It was also wise to tackle China in bite-sized pieces rather than as an entire market.

He surprised some by agreeing that bureaucracy should not be allowed to constrain the activities of New Zealand exporters. “We need to make things as simple as we can so you can respond to market signals. Bureaucracy should only be engaged when there is some specific value that we can add.” Allen confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was resourced well enough. He explained that separate government departments were working to streamline their activities in overseas markets and work more effectively together.



Deer Progeny Test launchedOn 21 March, 821 hinds at AgResearch Invermay and Whiterock Station, Canterbury, were artificially inseminated with semen from a number of carefully selected stags with known breeding values in the DEERSelect programme.

This marked the start of the Deer Progeny Test (DPT) programme, which was officially launched by its convenor, Mandy Bell, during the Deer Industry Conference.

Bell said the industry needed to embrace genetics and integrate genetic knowledge into their operations. There had been an explosion in knowledge and it was time to harness the associated technology to keep deer farming well positioned financially alongside other sectors.

“We need genomics and gene knowledge to shorten the timeframe; we need an accurate data measurement system and we need people to understand and be on board.”

The specifics for deer genomics are being developed at AgResearch, Invermay and DEERSelect was managing performance data. Breeders, DINZ, AgResearch and some commercial operations were utilising genetics, but the challenge is to extend that knowledge into the wider industry.

Bell said the DPT would fill an important gap by delivering an integrated genetics programme to the industry. The knowledge gained would improve on what DEERSelect BVs can deliver by focusing on new carcass traits, maternal traits such as the ideal high country hind size, resistance to parasitism and Johne’s disease and other traits.

“The DPT will deliver economics, heritability and correlations to help improve traits on farm. This will lead through to efficiency benefits for the processors and with the addition of venison attributes such as taste, texture and colour, add value to the market and consumer. It delivers a complete picture for economics on our farms. We need to understand the traits that influence profitability.

“The goals of the progeny test are to compare the dollar value at slaughter with a resulting economic index for growth and carcass traits between all animals irrespective of breeding; to develop a system to compare maternal traits and take advantage of new technologies.”

Funding support is coming through the Alliance Group – committed to the DPT project for the next three years – and Silver Fern Farms and Landcorp for the first year. AgResearch and Deer Industry New Zealand have indicated support through the DEEResearch Venison Supply System funding stream, with the DEEResearch Board yet to sign off. Beef and Lamb NZ has also been providing support with information and management advice from its Central Progeny Testing programme.

So how does DPT work?Key stags, essentially selected for the linkages they provide and identified through DEERSelect, are mated over hinds at central farms so that the influence of environment and hinds can be eliminated from production records. Data are then forwarded to DEERSelect enabling traits to be compared – all stags have to be slaughtered for terminal

trait evaluation.

In this first year of the programme there are 15 maternal and terminal sires with common traits being tested. Maternal sires are to be further evaluated through 25 females being retained in the breeding herd. Male progeny from the maternal sires are slaughtered, as are all progeny from the terminal sires.

“All information is open to industry and processors will be able to develop correlations and use the data in their businesses,” Bell explained.

She said there had been robust debate about the merits of different types of terminal sires over the years, but added “What combination do we need to deliver the best outcome in cents per kilo of dry matter and the conversion of grass to dollars? We need to compare those animals in the same environment and out of the same maternal lines.”

Growth, carcass yield, eye muscle area and venison attributes will all be assessed. “We want to know strengths of each so we as commercial farmers can make decisions based on facts.”

Bell said the project would consider a range of bloodlines and traits such as hind size, survival and longevity, fertility and conception date. “We want to determine an economic index for these traits. What’s the most efficient-sized hind that produces and raises a fawn each year, has top lactation, eats and converts efficiently. I want to retain the hind fawn that matches my farm policy.”

She said the breeding values from DEERSelect focused on the weight of progeny at 12 months and compared one stag with another on these terms. “We also need to look at the trend graph.”

Since AgResearch last ran a sire referencing programme in 2005, there has not been a consistently strong linkage

MandyBell:Industryneedstointegrategeneticknowledge

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Deer Progeny Test design

Maternal sires Terminal sires

Common traits

eg, growth, eye muscle area, Johne’s, parasites, temperament.

25 females 25 males 25 males and females

Hind breeding herd

➙ Hind traits eg, mature weight, survival, fertility, conception date, maternal performance

Slaughter

➙ Carcass traits eg, yield (in plant), venison attributes



between herds in New Zealand, she said. This is why the industry needs the DPT as a basis for genetic progress.

Taking a short detour into a lesson on genomics, Bell explained that the information gleaned through the DPT programme would provide a vital linkage between genotype (genetic differences identified through DNA analysis) and phenotype (the way these differences manifest themselves in individual animals on farm). Identifying genetic markers through genomics, and the work being done through DPT, would provide the ideal platform to find genetically based ways to combat parasitism and problems such as Johne’s disease.

She reminded deer farmers that their rivals in the dairy industry were already using genomics to improve profitability – it was time for the deer industry to pick up the challenge.

Many people involved in DPT programmeManagement of the programme includes AgResearch, DEEResearch and the DPT committee. Central farms are at Invermay and Whiterock Station and there are eight breeders already committed: Black Forest Park, Peel Forest Estate, Landcorp Farming, Tikana, Clachanburn, Criffel Station, Wilkins Farming and Deer Improvement. These have been asked to put stags into the programme based on the evaluations of a geneticist to provide variety amongst sires and the strongest industry linkage possible and includes leading strains of red deer and elk/wapiti terminal sires. Others who are closely linked in by using some of the stags from the DPT in their own breeding programmes are Canterbury Red Deer Stud, Firstlight Venison and Taihape Red Deer. All of these partner herds will be measuring the same new traits in their own breeding programme, and recording data into DEERSelect. In this way the industry will quickly build a more significant database of information on many more sire stags than simply those

used in the DPT herds. This information will be used both for genomic research and development of new EBVs, and will also provide immediate new information on the next generation of stags available for purchase by commercial farmers looking to take advantage of the gains in genetics that this programme will facilitate.

SummaryDPT collects traits from all animals and makes the comparisons. DEERSelect converts that data into something that can be used and BVs that are used to select stags.

“All add to an improved bottom line. It’s critical that we focus on profitability and not just productivity,” Bell said.

Looking at critical success factors, she said breeders should be defining and communicating their breeding goals, be part of DEERSelect and be linked to sires that are being used in the DPT programme.

And for commercial deer farmers there are reciprocal critical success factors: use breeding values when you are selecting sires and favour breeders who are part of DEERSelect, are making genetic progress and share your breeding strategy.

For those who might think these are nice goals for some undefined time in the future, Mandy Bell had news: “We can’t afford not to do this. Our challenge is to routinely include all genetic tools relevant to our own farming business. Our goal is full industry participation in this programme by next mating season.”

For further information:

■ Mandy Bell: phone 027 443 4250, [email protected]

Alternative contacts:

■ Jason Archer, AgResearch Invermay: phone 03 489 9138, [email protected]

■ Tony Pearse, Deer Industry New Zealand: phone 021 719 038, [email protected]

Rethink inspires positive changeHe doesn’t run deer, but Marlborough farmer Doug Avery’s presentation rounding out first day at the deer industry conference was relevant, inspiring and entertaining in equal measure.

Along with wife Wendy and son Fraser, Avery farms Bonavaree, a family property near Lake Grassmere. By the late 1990s the farm was in trouble. After a period of farm expansion, successive droughts were taking their toll and action was needed – something well beyond the usual response to dry conditions. Marlborough is dry at the best of times, but since the late 1980s, only two years have recorded above average rainfall. Devastating grass fires on Boxing Day in 2000 compounded the misery.

The three legs of the “sustainability stool” – environmental, financial and social – were broken. “I was just doing the same thing and expecting different results,” he said.

Avery was inspired by his father. Decorated following service as a navigator on Lancaster bombers during World War II, Graham Avery’s survival of 32 missions was due in

part to his concentrating on the things that were within his powers to change.

At Bonavaree, that philosophy was built around a radical change in pasture policy. In 1998 Doug Avery started planting lucerne. There were ups and downs and lessons to be learned, but it has proven to be a circuit breaker with 350 hectares of the now 1,550 hectare property planted in lucerne.

The change has been transformational, providing reliable grazing complemented by hay and silage and conventional pasture. Contrary to conventional advice, he mates his ewes on lucerne. “They’ve put on 10kg while they were on the crop and I’ve weighed them at 83kg by the time the ram goes out,” he said. Hogget scanning has lifted from 40 percent to

DougAvery–experiencetransformingMarlboroughfarmaninspirationtoothers.

Deer Progeny Test ... continued from page 9



162 percent and he has lambs going straight to the works off their mothers before Christmas at more than 17kg.

The lucerne stands last eight years on average but have kept going up to 15 years. Avery uses only direct drilling, part of a policy that centres on kindness to the sometimes fragile environment in which he farms. He said the farming system he has designed:

• isresilientinthefaceofextremeweatherandextremevariability

• ismiserlywithwaterandconservingofenergy• maintainsgroundcoverandiskindtosoil• sitslightlyonthelandscapeanddoesn’tdisplacenative

wildlife or habitat• ishighlyprofitableingoodyearsanddoesn’tlose

money in bad seasons• preservesandbuildsnatural,humanandfinancial

capital• recoversquicklyfromshocksandstress• attractsandretainstalentedpeopleandquality

companies around our business• producesthingsinhighdemandforgoodprices.

Focusing on the “circle of influence”, the system at Bonavaree controls when the limited water is used, choice of plants that efficiently turn water into energy, when and what animals eat those plants and when and how the production is sold. The 10-month farming system incorporates a summer fallow period – another adaptation to the environment they inhabit.

Using lucerne on the flats and gullies and saltbush on the impoverished hills, the farm has seen a spectacular increase in productivity, continually working within the environmental constraints. Always open to new ideas, Avery attended a field day at Lyndon and Millie Mathews’ Puketira Deer at Waikari, where he heard about the advantages of prairie grass – a

lesson he’s applied with good results at Bonavaree.

Tree lucerne attracts the bumble bees which return the favour by pollinating lucerne seed crops every year. Building soil carbon levels and sequestration of carbon in trees through ground-durable eucalyptus trees is part of the sustainability strategy. The tree crops will supply cross members for power poles and vineyard poles. Significant natural areas are being fenced off with some land put into a QEII covenant.

Avery is a big fan of EID and can’t understand why people can’t see the potential. “I believe [EID] will be the cornerstone of the next 10 years’ growth. If you can’t see the advantage and don’t do it, don’t be surprised if you find yourself left behind.”

The farm business has undergone extraordinary growth on the back of the fundamental changes in farming system. From 1,200 stock units (SU) on 206 owned hectares in 1972, the farm business now runs 11,000 SU on 1,550 owned hectares and 225 ha leased. Financial performance has improved accordingly. EBIT W (earnings before interest and tax with a wage deducted) has grown from zero in 1998 to $550,000 in 2011. And the business growth will continue, Avery says.

Summing up, he said the transformation involved all areas: science, agency, community and farming family. “We looked at all the system levers, not just one, and tweaked them all. This was a systems change.”

Doug Avery is not one to stand still. In his eyes, success is a journey, not a destination. He’s been willing to accept failures and criticisms and to learn from others. Constantly building his knowledge is part of the plan and is one reason why he is a strong supporter of FarmIQ.

Achievements recognisedIn 2008 the Starborough Flaxbourne Soil Conservation group, which Doug Avery chaired, was awarded a “Green Ribbon” from the Ministry for the Environment for its work in land sustainability and leadership.

In Oct 2010 the Avery family became Lincoln University Foundation “South Island Farmer of the Year” and in May 2011 Bonavaree won the Marlborough District Council Farm Environment award.

Fromeightcontinuousyearsofdroughttoreliablelucerne-basedgrazing,ithasbeenaremarkabletransformationatBonavaree.

Hinds & Weanersfor sale now

all the details online @

www.tradedeer.co.nzPh (06)348 4144 or (027) 486 4341

P O Box 7138 Wanganui 4541- New Zealand. e-mail: [email protected] .co.nzdeer

TAKING DEER ONLINE



NAIT legislation delayedA legislative logjam has delayed the implementation of the National Animal Identification and Tracing scheme (NAIT) until after the general election. Cattle were to be compulsorily introduced into the scheme on 1 November 2011, but this will no longer happen. NAIT has stated that the planned date for the entry of deer into the scheme remains 1 March 2013.

NAIT Limited CEO, Russell Burnard, said this revised timing will allow opportunity to further refine and test the IT system before implementation.

Speaking at the deer industry conference in Timaru (before the delay was announced) Burnard told deer farmers that the detail of NAIT regulations affecting deer would be finalised during 2012 after cattle had been introduced to the scheme. He said it was simpler to manage operational details through regulation rather than legislation.

Public submissions on NAIT regulations closed last month.

Burnard told deer farmers that NAIT had listened and responded to their concerns about tag colour and choice of ear. He gave a rather ambivalent message about choice of ear saying use of the tag in the left or right ear was now optional, but that NAIT strongly prefers the right ear to be used for processing plant efficiency.

Assuming the implementation date is unchanged for deer, all deer born on or after 1 March 2013 must be tagged with a NAIT-approved RFID primary and an approved secondary tag, within 180 days of birth (or before they are moved off-farm).

Burnard said NAIT-approved RFID tags may be used as an optional secondary tag for deer born from now on, but noted that deer destined for slaughter must be tagged with a yellow bar-coded primary or direct-to-slaughter tag until 1 March 2013.

He said that to ensure high retention, the NAIT-approved ear tag should be applied to the inner part of the ear (preferably the right), between the two veins, close to the head and with the “female” tag facing forward.

NAIT-approved RFID ear tags are supplied by three NAIT-

accredited manufacturers: Allflex, Zeetags and Leader Products, and are available from rural suppliers.

Implications of legislation delayResponding to announcement of the delay for cattle, newly appointed NZDFA Executive Committee Chair, Edmund Noonan, observed that the March date had been agreed because of practicalities around tagging weaners. That date would provide minimal overlap with the 2011-born yearlings still destined for slaughter and normal seasonal handling of 2012-born weaner deer. There is an agreement that deer will follow cattle by 12 months, but would fully begin, rather than going through a transitional phase-in as was proposed for cattle. The immediate reaction from the NZDFA was to seek retention of the 12-month gap between implementation for cattle and deer. This would allow NAIT’s implementation and time to sort out teething problems before deer entered the scheme. A start date of 1 June 2013 for deer would make sense provided farmers selling weaners from March to June voluntarily NAIT-tagged those animals (as a secondary AHB tag) to ensure purchasers were able to demonstrate life-time traceability

Irrespective of what date, all deer born before this and not being moved off-farm, need to be tagged with a NAIT-approved RFID tag within three years.

Russell Burnard told Deer Industry News in early June that the date for deer joining the NAIT scheme is currently 1 March 2013. “NAIT will be mandatory for cattle in 2012 pending the passing of legislation. Once timeframes become clearer, NAIT will provide an update to cattle and deer farmers and the industry.”

Provelco call for velvet industry unityProvelco General Manager Ross Chambers told conference growers there was a need for greater confidence in the sector by its participants.

Recalling Stuart Nattrass’s lively conference address at Te Anau in 2005, Chambers noted the comments that markets are ruled by fear and greed. “We need less of both of these and more confidence. We are the world’s greatest producers and exporters of deer velvet and we need to be proud of that.”

While Asian markets could be difficult, “they are our markets and we have to deal with them. A farmer-owned cooperative has very strong marketing story to tell in those markets.”

Chambers acknowledged the contribution of DINZ knocking on doors in the marketplace, but said a strong

commercially based organisation needed to be pushing those doors open.

“To build this vision of a strong grower-owned company working in the marketplace we need more support and we need it now.”

He said Provelco (previously Velexco) had often attracted favourable comments, but that must be translated into support and membership to take the business forward. “To achieve our potential, producers need to work together. We need a unified approach in those tough markets to achieve the best long-term result for your product.”

RussellBurnard.



NZ Light Leathers adds touch of glamourThere was a frisson of excitement in among the trade stands at this year’s deer industry conference, adding further vibrancy to the traditional showing of eartags, fenceposts and pour-on drench.

It was, rather, the presence of a couple of finely made handbags sporting, respectively, the Prada and Gucci labels. These were the real McCoy and the female attendees at least – happily queuing to have their photographs taken holding this fine merchandise – could appreciate that top quality deer hides from New Zealand were being used for these most luxurious of luxury goods.

The bags, which fetch €1,500 ($NZ2,625) in Europe, are among the high-end products made from deer hides exported by New Zealand Light Leathers (NZLL).

The company, based at Washdyke, near Timaru, started business in 1974 processing lamb skins only. By 2004, 20 percent of the throughput was deer hides and today the company is solely devoted to leather from deer.

Managing Director, Neil Dickson, told conference goers that the company now accounts for a significant percentage of New Zealand deer hides and is this country’s only specialist tanner of deer skin. (They would like to increase that percentage.) He said Europe is a main export destination along with China, where business is growing.

In keeping with the deer industry’s move to bring producers closer to their ultimate customers, Dickson introduced Carlo Cioni, who was brought out from Italy for the conference to meet the people who grow the deer skins he imports. Cione runs a family business in Florence, sourcing fine leathers and supplying European design houses including Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Lancel, Prada and Salvatore Ferragamo.

He has represented NZLL in Europe since 2000 and being close to the main design houses can respond quickly to their needs.

Cioni said about 2 million skins from shot American feral deer come onto the market each year. Compared with New Zealand skins they are smaller and more compact, thinner and with a tight, even grain. New Zealand skins are larger, thicker and softer with a spongy grain. They are also in relatively short supply given the size of our national farmed herd.

He said there are challenges supplying a product from so far away – it isn’t practicable to do pre-shipment inspections, for example – but he has gradually built a level of trust

and confidence among his customers in the quality and consistency of the New Zealand product. In his opinion it’s “the best in the world”.

The process of supplying each customer each season was a complex one, with designers making their choices from pre-production samples, sometimes small orders and a weekly delivery schedule. Failure to supply the right number of skins on time could, in the high-pressure world of fashion garments, be disastrous. Cioni said consistent quality and supply was a challenge for the industry.

Neil Dickson explained that New Zealand deer leather is very versatile, ranging from 0.4–2.0mm in thickness. The finish can have a grain or be flat, it is strong and the appearance can be adapted for a variety of uses including shoes, accessories and garments. They are starting to appear as seat leather trim in the Audi 8 series and NZLL is hoping to also get its leathers into the luxury yacht market.

Dickson said only about 5 percent of deer hides processed were fault free, with about 50 percent classed as “premium” (some faults down the middle but the side panels clear). The proportion of low-end skins is too high and these end up being used for less-lucrative products such as gloves.

Skins from deer killed in the summer months tended to be more vulnerable to faults because the coats were shorter. He said the objective was to get as many deer skins as possible out of the commodity end of the market – where

there was no differentiation between species – into the high end of the trade. There was no discernable difference between wapiti and red deer skins other than size he said. “The skin from any large, older stag will probably present problems.”

He said the large volumes of lower-quality US skins tended to drag down the prices received (these vary from $US14 for low-end skins up the $US75 for the very best). There is also competition in the luxury market from exotic skins such as ostrich and crocodile.

A large Prada bag might use up to two whole deer skins. Dickson said products like these were beautifully made and accessorised – works of art.

Judging by the faraway look in the eyes of the female conference guests allowed to handle the finished items at the NZLL trade stand, he may very well have a point.

Fromleft:NewZealandLightLeathersManagingDirector,NeilDickson,Europeanrepresentative,CarloCioni,andExportSalesManager,BarryParsons,withaPradabag–oneoftheendusesfortop-qualityNewZealanddeerhides.



Brush up your people skills!Lone Star Farms HR Manager, Melonie Sheppard, was not entirely joking when she told deer farmers that they probably put more thought into a choice of a new ute than they did into selecting good staff.

The keynote speaker for the “Faces of the Future” forum at the deer industry conference said that unlike a farm vehicle, however, a good staff member was an appreciating asset.

Farmers could sometimes forget that they were also employers, landlords and people managers – skills that did not always come naturally, she said.

Sheppard got her presentation off to a lively start by asking her audience to segregate themselves into three groups: owners, managers and farm employees.

She asked all to close their eyes and then asked a series of questions of each group: were they happy with their teams? were they happy in their jobs? Each group answered by raising their hands or not. At the end of the short session – one requiring some trust and honesty – Sheppard reported back that none of the groups had indicated 100 percent satisfaction with the way things were. For example, only about 60 percent of owners were happy with their current team setup, and 50–60 percent of staff were totally happy in their roles – there was room for improvement.

She said recruiting was a serious business and doing it properly would pay dividends. This applied right from the point of advertising. Many people automatically advertised through the print media, but, “How many young people actually read the paper these days? They search online. Just because you are the owner it doesn’t mean you’re the best person to recruit staff. Being a manager means being a leader and inspiring people.”

Sheppard said the whole process needed to be done properly. Ideally there should be three or four candidates to interview following initial screening of CVs.

Communication was important and Sheppard advised employers to insist on a preliminary phone conversation to learn more about a job applicant – even if the young person’s preferred method of talking was via text.

Prospective farm employees should be given a proper look around the property and a second person should be present at the interview to add a different perspective. It was unwise to make a job offer solely on the recommendation of a relative, friend or neighbour that their son or daughter would be a good employee.

Understanding what the needs of employees might be was an important part of the process. Simple things like lack of cellphone coverage could prove a sticking point. Sheppard said the days when an employee was grateful for the opportunity to work for you are almost gone. “We have to be equally grateful that they would consider us as an employer.”

She said quality in the industry started with the quality of farm staff and the working relationship with their employer. In conclusion she had the following tips for employers, managers and employees:

Employers and farm managers• Beclearonyourroleinthebusiness• “Consciously”manageyourpeople• Planyourstaffcareerswiththem• Focusonoutcomes• Systemiseandaddressweaknesses.

Farm staff• Keeptrackofyourconfidence:abilityratio• Learntomanageyourmanager• Bethankfulfortheopportunitiesyouarebeinggiven.

Remember, Sheppard advised, today it’s all about people!

Silver Fern Farms digital project Get close to your consumers and understand them better. That was the message to deer farmers from Sharon Angus, Group Marketing Manager, Silver Fern Farms (SFF).

She said SFF had been undertaking a digital project to get a better appreciation of what consumers want, what they think about and how they get information. People had a growing lack of confidence in their ability to cook red meat and this could be making them shy away from a healthy product like venison, she said.

“Word of mouth is important and you have to connect with that person you’re marketing to. The consumer is boss and if you don’t connect with the right values, you’ll lose them.”

Angus said shows like Masterchef showed how food was

becoming a centre of entertainment. “Mass personalisation and niche marketing are enabled through specialised transaction channels and new media.”

SFF’s consumer insights showed there were essential differences between regular consumers, who were comfortable with and enjoyed cooking and the occasional consumer for whom food was a hobby and was less selective about what they bought.

MelonieSheppard:Somepeopletakemorecarewithchoosinganewutethanselectingstaff.

SharonAngus:Connectingwithcustomersrequiresmorethanputtinguprecipesonawebsite.



Venison enjoying period of stabilityWhile factors beyond our control will continue to affect the price of venison, it just might be that we are doing more to control the things that we can control, DINZ Venison Marketing Services Manager, Innes Moffat, told the deer industry conference.

Over the past three years the price of New Zealand venison has been stable and historically high, he said. This period of stability had been affected by four main factors.

1. Improving marketing structures and partnerships

We see more contracted supply – better transparency and trust between exporters and importers provides a sharing of risk which allowed the New Zealand venison industry to escape the savage effect of the 2008 global financial crisis.

2. Market diversification by marketing companies

This has successfully reduced the industry’s dependence on the German frozen game trade. It is still the most important sector for New Zealand, but marketing companies now have more choice. Reduced supply has helped, but would never, of itself, have protected prices during the recession.

3. Reputation

New Zealand venison’s reputation for food safety and integrity helped spark the lift in prices. Our food safety record, hygiene and consistent standards make us first choice for many game customers around the world.

4. Commodity prices

The improvement in world commodity prices has definitely helped.

Prospects remain sound for venison, Moffat said.• Germanyisleadingtheglobaleconomyoutof

recession.• TheUS food service industry has bounced back. • NewZealandvenisonproductionisexpectedtoremain

constrained, with a stable herd and stable production over the next few years.

• Andfinally,demandcontinuestoimproveforhealthy,naturally raised meat.

He said DINZ asked a chef we know to tell them aboutthetrendsaffectingtheUSrestaurantsceneatthemoment,andhowCervena®fitsintohismenu.USChefTodd Gray, adviser to Michelle Obama ticked off three key themes in his recorded address to the conference:

1. People seeking low-fat premium food.2. The economy and chefs seeking new products to keep

plate costs down; and3. Searchingforconnectionswithfoodproducers,to

provide a higher degree of certainty about where food comes from, how it’s been produced and more certainty about supply.

It is no coincidence that these three themes reflect the first threeprioritiesoftheVenisonStrategicIntent,Moffatsaid.

Venison’s nutritional profile as the healthiest red meat is a core component of its premium positioning.

Marketing companies are developing new products to meet customers changing requirements.

Andfinally,thereistheimportanceofcommitmenttosecurity of supply. Buyers are wanting to create more secure supply lines as competition for food increases. Buyers are reaching back down the chain to reconnect with producers.

“New Zealand marketing companies’ ability to meet this demand can only be satisfied if they can secure certainty over their supply lines – this places those companies that can obtain more deer on a contract basis at an advantage on this issue.

“New Zealand can claim a bigger share of the final sales price by providing more certainty of supply, which will provide both sides with more confidence in the long-term stable future of this business.”

“Our objective is to get these occasional consumers buying more often.”

Further segmentation of the consumer market gave greater insights into how they could be tarketed: the “family centric/houseproud” consumer, the “trendsetter” (important early adopters) and the “entertainers” (who have rediscovered the joys of home cooking and entertaining during the recession).

Angussaidconnectingwithconsumersrequiredalotmorethanputtinguprecipesonawebsite.SFFisnowtargetingbanner advertising linked to website searches on popular sitesasGoogleandStuff.Pop-upadvertisementsencouragewebbrowsersto“trythis”.SFFhasalsoboughtwordssothattheir own website will appear high on the list for Google searches, leading consumers to choose something like venison medallions for dinner.

Thisisfarfromscattergunmarketing–Angussaidtiming

of internet advertising is designed to coincide with when the attention of office workers starts to drift from the task at handtowhattheymightbehavingfordinner.Surprisingly,this starts to happen around mid morning!

SFF’swww.bestcutsbestrecipes.co.nz website makes all thisveryeasyforconsumers,Angusexplained.Startingwith a world map the internet browser then clicks on their region and hones in on a recipe for that part of the world. If they find something they like, the full list of ingredients and recipe is displayed and can be texted to their phone so they’re equipped to go out and get what they need to make it happen.

The strategy has been supported with television commercials, point of purchase reminders and instore tastings. “You need a multi-touchpoint campaign that’s about point of purchase and making it as easy as possible for the consumer.”

Chef Todd Gray. To see his video message, visit: http://www.nzvenison.com/toddgray#video-2166

http://www.nzvenison.com/toddgray#video-2166



Mountain River’s market innovationsMountain River Venison is looking into new ways to help address the seasonal mismatch between venison supply and demand by bringing additional value to frozen product and extending the sales season. Speaking during the venison outlook session at the deer industry conference, Mountain River Marketing Director, John Sadler explained the company’s work to search out value niches.

Underpinning the company’s work in overseas markets was a set of very long-term relationships – up to 30 years in some cases – with customers.

“We see venison as a specialty food item – a delicacy. Because of that we bring a different focus.”

As volumes of venison available for export increased, in the restaurant segment the company expanded its market by moving down value “pyramid” from the traditional white tablecloth establishment into chain restaurants. When supply shortened, the focus returned to the top end customers.

One strategy has been to develop the “premium frozen” market. Although sometimes maligned as a dumping ground for low-value product, Mountain River has been working with the French frozen food retailer, Picard, in an effort to “premiumise” frozen products.

There are 800 local shops in the fast-growing Picard chain, which specialises in frozen products and commands 18 percent of the French frozen food market. Sadler said the stores are simple, clean and modern with a bias towards innovative products as well as classic French bourgeois cuisine.

Sadler said Picard had a history in game products but about 10 years ago began a move away from hunted products to farmed, partly for food safety reasons. Mountain River began supplying the chain direct in 2003 and the French company has been very pleased with the quality of the venison they are receiving from New Zealand.

Mountain River has also been working hard to develop the US market, which has its own challenges. Sadler said venison is not well understood by US consumers, with negative perceptions around hunted deer and the “Bambi” syndrome. More than 80 percent by value is sold in restaurants. The “buy local” movement and emphasis on seasonal ingredients provides further hurdles in the United States. There was a long supply chain to the restaurant diner and it was difficult to ensure that the positive messages about New Zealand farm-raised venison made it all the way to the consumer.

Undaunted, Mountain River is using the Cervena® tools to get the message through to US chefs. Sadler said that despite all the work that’s been done in the United States there is still a big job to do educating chefs about the qualities of venison.

To help overcome these obstacles, Mountain River has set up a joint venture with Terra Pacific Marketing to provide a distribution hub and direct influence on the end users. Getting the Cervena materials out of the cupboard and into the hands of the people promoting the product on the

ground was a critical part of the strategy.

“Chefs do order Cervena by name – we probably can’t say the same for the consumers.”

Sadler said frozen product is playing an increasing role in the United States as they attempt to balance supply and demand. While there is a premium on chilled product, not all customers require it and frozen venison cut to client specifications can be used where there would otherwise be a shortfall.

Sadler said the company is also working with a partner Germany to develop higher-value specialty frozen venison products.

ThePicardstoresinFrancecarryMountainRiverproducts.

JohnSadler:Focusmovedtotop-endcustomerswhensupplywastight.

USchefanddistributor:MountainRivercontinuestoleveragetheCervenaappellation.

Paul Livingstone honouredAnimal Health Board Tuberculosis Eradication and Research Manager, Dr Paul Livingstone, was recognised for his services to veterinary science in the Queen’s Birthday honours with the Queen’s Service Order.

Graduating from Massey University in 1973, much of his career has been devoted to the battle against bovine Tb. He joined the AHB in 1994 and developed for the Board a strategic research plan for Tb and associated possum control. This research base provided a foundation for AHB’s National Pest Management Strategy for bovine Tb.

His expertise is sought internationally and the strategy he has helped build to fight Tb in deer and cattle has received strong support from farmers. Deer Industry New Zealand and the NZDFA extend their congratulations and best wishes to Dr Livingstone.



No room for complacency – call for industry-agreed quality standards

One of the key planks of the productivity road map unveiled at the Deer Industry Conference is “Freedom to operate” and the presentation given for DINZ Quality Manager, John Tacon reminded deer farmers how carefully they must protect and enhance this freedom. (John couldn’t attend the conference for family reasons and his presentation was delivered by DINZ Board member, Collier Isaacs.)

Tacon advised farmers that in the 16 years since he first attended a deer conference the level of regulation and enforcement and the public awareness of animal welfare issues had continued to grow. Alongside these were concerns about environmental performance, greenhouse gas, water use, food miles, indigenous biodiversity and so on.

“In this day and age there’s now much more public awareness of animal welfare issues and the public are very quick to raise these. There’s an 0800 animal welfare hotline whereby anybody can call with animal welfare concerns – and boy does that hotline get used.”

Tacon called for the industry to lift its performance. “It’s a changing world out there and we need to keep ahead. We’ve had a Code of Welfare for deer farming for a number of years now and although most famers would meet those standards hands down, we’ve got no coordinated way of knowing it.”

He said industry performance in welfare matters needed to match the excellent progress made in the control and management of various disease challenges.

The three-year joint programme on velvetting surveillance between DINZ, MAF and the NZFSA Verification Agency (now part of MAF again) was a good example of regulators and industry working together. The aim was the improve compliance and not seek prosecutions and that has been achieved, Tacon reported.

“There’s no doubt, over the years, some people had become complacent with the programme’s requirements. But now, as a result of the surveillance programme there’s a greater awareness of all the requirements surrounding velvetting.”

Results from the 2009/10 audit programme of 96 farmers and 15 veterinary practices were very pleasing nonetheless. Only two farmers failed and had received extra training. Vet practices had high standards.

Looking at compliance, Tacon explained the government-initiated programme that has “Everybody taking responsibility for the welfare of animals” as its vision. “It’s not just MAF’s responsibility, it’s actually the responsibility of all New Zealanders.”

He said the biggest challenge was to be able to prove that we meet high standards of welfare. A news clipping from the UK claiming the New Zealand deer are farmed with lower welfare standards than in the UK was totally wrong but difficult to disprove.

Most, but not all processors, had their own quality programmes and less than half of all farmer suppliers were covered by any QA programme. Tacon said the lack of coverage and lack of consistency between QA programmes meant they were difficult to use as evidence to protect the industry’s freedom to operate.

“We need to find a way to ensure all deer farmers are able to meet the same standard or same level of assurance. What I’m gently raising is whether the industry should cooperate on a set of industry-agreed standards that are non-negotiable and form a basic position for industry.”

By committing to an industry-agreed set of independently verifiable welfare and environmental standards, we would be strongly supporting the venison industry vision “to inspire the New Zealand deer industry to profitably grow and market what is undoubtedly the world’s best red meat”, he concluded.

Firstlight to harness power of EID in integrated value chainIf any farmers had lingering doubts about the potential value of electronic identification (EID) for their deer business, the presentation by Firstlight Managing Director, Gerard Hickey, should have made the benefits very clear.

Hickey used the venison outlook session at the deer industry conference to announce the launch of the company’s carcass tracking system from October 2011. The technology will allow individual animals to be tracked right through the processing chain and feed back detailed information to suppliers on the performance and value of each animal, right down to their tails and other coproducts.

Firstlight suppliers voluntarily adopted EID two years ago and the management information yielded by the new system will be a tangible reward for the early adopters.

The company is spending $250,000 on the tracking system in conjunction with the Venison Packers, Feilding plant.



Velvet sector: Telling a compelling storyA strong emphasis on strategic intent and the emerging generation of consumers in our core Asian markets were features of the velvet industry segment at the deer industry conference.

By way of a filmed interview, Velvet Marketing Services Manager, Rhys Griffiths, introduced farmers to Mr Namho Kim, head of sales for Omniherb, a Korean company that represents a smart new sales-driven approach to traditional health products including velvet (first introduced to Deer Industry News readers in August 2008). By seeing the velvet story through Mr Kim’s eyes growers gained a much better appreciation of the market they are supplying – and as a young man his input was in line with the conference focus on the new generation.

In his recorded interview, Mr Kim said transparency and a good traceback system was important to Korean consumers and something they were used to with beef products. Secondly, he said New Zealand velvet needed to build a strong brand based around a compelling story. He quoted Evian as an example – a type of water found in a village in France in the 18th Century with healing qualities through its mineral content. This story has matured into a strong global brand commanding a price premium.

A miraculous story around the healing properties of New Zealand velvet could provide a springboard for a powerful velvet brand, Mr Kim said – inviting anyone to contact him with details of such a story!

He said Korea’s population is ageing and velvet would play

an important role in dealing with degenerative diseases. (Korea’s population aged 65+ is expected to grow from 4.5 million in 2010 to 19 million by 2050.)

While Mr Kim’s early impressions of our velvet were negative, that perception has changed and Omniherb now sells only New Zealand velvet in its products. Joint promotional work with DINZ is helping to bring consumer perceptions around too. Griffiths said Korean partners are hungry for information to support their promotion of our product.

The Velvet Industry Strategic Intent is staying front of mind for the DINZ team and their industry partners, Griffiths said. The priorities are:

• Freedomtooperate• Improvemarketaccess• Protectandgrowcoremarkets• Provideefficacy-basedresearch• StrengthentheNewZealandvelvetbrand.

Step one of the system will track the animal to the carton, but when Step two is implemented, it will be tracked through to the consumer.

Signalling a change in emphasis, the traditional kill sheet has been expanded and refined to become a “Venison Value Sheet”. And it really does get down to the fine detail. The EID number will provide the key to grower-supplied information such as breeder and sire, weaning date and weight and liveweight gains. This information will be routinely captured on farm, linked to EID numbers and emailed to Firstlight. Once at the processing plant, this information is expanded to include dressing and meat yields, value details on coproducts, values and customer destinations for primal cuts and values per head and per kg of meat. The complete data set for each animal will be available in both paper and electronic form for the producers.

A front page to the value sheet will then deduct the fixed costs for processing, transport and so on from the total value.

In total, this will provide farmers with comprehensive detail about individual animals and good information to feed

back into their farm management decisions.

Hickey explained that the move was in keeping with Strategy number 3 of the Venison Industry Strategic Intent: “Encourage farmers, processors and customers towards long-term supply commitments.” He said an integrated value chain provides strong relationships with premium customers, market knowledge and direction, information and transparency of individual animal value and value-based payments. “Taken together these lead to increased financial gains along the

value chain.”

The Firstlight system modelled what FarmIQ was setting out to achieve, he added.

“Payments will not be on a carcass weight basis or GR, but on a whole new level of value-based payment systems. To get the best value from this kind of information you need to be recording information on farm and to be a part of the value chain.

“Whether it’s Firstlight, FarmIQ or another initiative to come, this is the way the industry is moving.”

GerardHickey:Firstlightismovingfromkillsheettovenisonvaluesheet.

RhysGriffiths:Koreaneconomyrobustatpresent.



Griffiths said the Korean economy was robust at present, although there were inflation concerns. The oriental medicine industry was the only industry to grow there during the recession.

Local events affecting velvet included the killing of 3,000 deer after a foot and mouth disease outbreak and the Fukushima nuclear power plant emergency, which increased demand for immunity-boosting products. Global velvet production had fallen in recent years and New Zealand remained the dominant player, but more price stability was needed to build confidence in the industry, he said. Current prices were reasonable and it was pleasing to note that levels had held for a couple of years now.

China was a core part of the Velvet Industry Strategic Intent, Griffiths said. Growth in that economy had been “phenomenal” since the turn of this century, with a figure of 9.3 percent tipped for 2011. The increasing wealth was being distributed throughout the population, with a burgeoning middle class providing good market opportunities for New Zealand.

Fragmentation in the New Zealand industry was an ongoing challenge. “We have to be careful we don’t treat this product as an undifferentiated commodity if we want to have sustainable returns,” he warned.

“We need to be mindful of what happens once velvet leaves the farm gate and not accept an extra $1 more if it means that our New Zealand velvet is not being valued further through the supply chain. That might be great for this year and maybe next, but without unity or our key exporter being confident of ongoing business (to invest in the market), how sustainable are we? Will the next crash come when we hit 500 tonnes? With the low volumes of velvet produced, now is the time to commit to the industry.”

Another potential issue was the composition of production. As a result of the search for quality, Super A had grown from 9 percent in 2005 to 16.5 percent in 2010. This could be overshooting market demand and getting out of sync with what was required, especially in China.

The volumes of velvet going to China were growing, but much of this was eventually destined for Korea, he noted. “In an ideal world Chinese grades would go to China and Korean grades to Korea.”

Referring to Mr Kim’s comments about New Zealand velvet having been considered inferior to the Russian or Chinese product, Griffiths said price movements over the past five years belied this stereotype. While Russian velvet continued to attract the highest prices, New Zealand product had overtaken Chinese velvet and there were instances last year where our product attracted a higher price than Russian product (see diagram). “This is because of stronger selling by key exporters and an increased understanding of New Zealand’s quality systems by younger Korea oriental

medicine doctors.”

“To have a sustainable, profitable industry, we need to create competitive advantage. We need a value proposition to take us from an undifferentiated commodity to a branded product and improve the willingness to pay. The factors are simple: promote our clean green image; promote

our quality systems; encourage a transparent and traceable route to market; and ensure we have the science to support this pharmaceutical product.”

Turning to the current scientific effort, Griffiths said work with the RepaiRx wound healing product had got to the stage of application for ethics approval for human clinical trials at Perth Royal Hospital. It was hoped that the green light would be given soon.

Encouraging proof of concept work on using isotopic signatures to accurately verify country of origin

for velvet – mainly using carbon and sulphur isotopes – had yet to attract funding support from New Zealand exporters to take this to the next stage. Once the datasets for this work were strengthened, it could be possible to have a reliable test to authenticate country of origin and thus protect the New Zealand brand.

“When the product is sitting on shelves or sliced or powered, it is hard for the average customer to tell the difference and at this point it is easy for misrepresentation to occur. The idea behind this tool is that it provides the ability for a marketer to challenge competing products.”

Looking ahead, Griffiths said velvet was set to ride the rising demand for healthy functional foods that was occurring in both Western markets and in Korea and China.

China was the world’s fastest-growing market for luxury goods and that had to be good for velvet, he said.

In conclusion he said ours was a young industry striving for an honest and transparent pathway to the market. “Our key attributes are a clean green environment, professional and quality farming systems, strict quality control throughout the value chain, traceability and consumer safety. Efficacy-based science and promotion will help this story.”

NamhoKim:LookingforastrongstorytobuildaroundNewZealandvelvet.

000Ko

rean

won

per

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Snapshotofvelvetprices,2005–2010.Source,NZTE,Seoul.

Velvet sector... continued



Science provides backbone for young velvet industry

Jimmy Suttie’s name has been synonymous with velvet industry research in New Zealand for the past 30 years and it was to Suttie that fell the daunting task of reviewing this work in less than 30 minutes.

What his presentation did highlight was the tremendous body of knowledge that has been built in this country from a standing start in the early 1980s, enabled by a unique funding vehicle for the research in the form of Velvet Antler Research Ltd (VARNZ), a joint venture between the industry and AgResearch.

The earliest work at what was then MAF Invermay, now AgResearch, was the essential groundwork needed to understand morphogenesis – the mechanisms of antler growth. Although antler had been used in traditional medicines for centuries, there was little known about how they grew.

This early work laid the foundations for further studies into velvet composition, efficacy and removal techniques. Understanding grew from learning about the way antler grew from the bone – the pedicle – and then how and why branching took place and antler shape emerged.

In vitro work with cells in tissue culture revealed more, including the intriguing way in which a bundle of velvet cells will organise themselves into an antler shape and begin to differentiate, even in the petri dish (pictured).

Later work revealed that antler grows each year from stem cells.

Suttie said work on the composition of New Zealand deer velvet in the 1980s and 1990s focused on finding a competitive advantage for our velvet over Russian and Chinese product. By 1994 we were able to take evidence to Korea that the ingredients in our velvet such as proteins and lipids were actually higher in some cases than in Chinese or Russian equivalent.

Another market-related piece of evidence compiled by our researchers in the 1990s was to bust the myth about ash content (a negative) being in a linear relationship with distance from the base of the antler.

Studies into the relationship between processing technique (for example, freeze drying versus heating) showed a marked effect on velvet quality in the end product – a big issue, Suttie said, given the amount of our velvet now processed overseas. In a similar vein, work carried out in association with Noel Beatson showed a strong relationship between removal technique and colour.

Turning to velvet efficacy work, Suttie said trials showed a relatively high dose of velvet extract (20–25mg velvet powder equivalent per kilogram bodyweight) would yield a significant lift in athletic performance. Immune function work in this area using mice, removing all extraneous variables such as cutting date, showed that New Zealand velvet was at least as effective as Chinese product.

Work on angiogenesis – the capacity of components of velvet antler to stimulate the formation of blood vessels – led to the wound-healing research and patenting of RepaiRx that is today on the cusp of human clinical trials.

Suttie said the research carried out into velvet over the past three decades has been done for myriad reasons. Beyond the necessary basic research, the studies have been applied to increasing velvet production (including successful work on nutrition). But perhaps the most valuable applied work has been providing solid evidence for claims in the marketplace.

Suttie said the partnership formed between MAF (later AgResearch) and the Game Industry Board (later DINZ) was crucial to the advances made because it linked the scientists directly with the marketplace.

JimmySuttiesaidpartnershipsbetweenthedeerindustryandgovernmentresearchershadbeencrucialtotheprogressmadeinvelvetresearch.

Weknowwhattodo!Electronmicroscopephotoofantlercellsinvitroshowsthemformingintoarudimentaryantlershape.Photo:AgResearch.

Suttie thanked for 30-year contributionJimmy Suttie was clearly moved at the conclusion of his presentation when presented by DINZ with a special industry award in recognition of his remarkable contribution to the science behind New Zealand’s deer velvet industry.

It was perhaps fitting that the recognition should come at Timaru, because it was at the Timaru deer industry conference in 2003 that he also received the Deer Industry Award for his services to research.

These are uncertain times for Suttie, whose position as the General Manager of the Applied Biotechnologies Group of AgResearch has recently been disestablished.

The industry wishes him all the best for the future.

continued on page 22



John MacDonald looks backFollowing on from the DINZ velvet market presentation, outgoing DINZ Board member, John MacDonald reflected on his 35 years in the industry and provided some historical context for the next phase in its development.

He was first involved during the helicopter days on the West Coast before with a development team established Wrightson NMA’s deer horn a venison division, and set up the first velvet drying plant. “When we set up the drying business there was no consistency and we set about rectifying that with controlled drying, dehumidifiers and so on – it was the forerunner to modern plants with vacuum dryers.”

MacDonald said this early development helped establish New Zealand processors as the world’s foremost dryers of deer velvet. Eventually there were 26 processor members of the Velvet Processors Association. Taiwan was our biggest market for green velvet in the early days and there were three processors dedicated to this market, but this business eventually disappeared as genetics improved and the Taiwan grades were no longer produced.

Getting finance to buy the total crop became difficult after some shady operators disappeared without repaying loans he said. One consistent lesson was that if you want to achieve price control and market discipline it is unrealistic to expect to sell all the season’s production in a few short months.

The opening up of the Korean market to green velvet precipitated a fundamental change in the New Zealand velvet processing industry, MacDonald said. With 90 percent of production now exported green, there were now only five plants drying velvet in New Zealand. “Our ability to add value to the crop is almost lost.”

There were also fewer road buyers now and industry participants were getting older. Although there was more marketing discipline, DINZ had not been able to avoid the fragmentation that still plagues New Zealand’s marketing efforts.

MacDonald said the fortunes of New Zealand velvet producers depended heavily on overseas buyers, who were not concerned about the health of the industry here. The reality for our industry was that there was no commerce commission in China or Korea to prevent price collusion and the product passed through multiple hands before reaching the consumer.

“The only way I see change happening is through internal pressure. I see China as the catalyst to achieve this goal. The more velvet China consumes – and if we can get 40 or 50 tonnes back into Taiwan – this will put pressure on the supply and the pharmaceutical lobby will demand more open access.”

The DINZ Board had directed the executive to focus on China. The challenge was to open that market so product could flow freely in, MacDonald said. There was no regulatory control in China, but the market was redefining the dynamics of how all countries do business. He said the Government there was seeking to establish China as the world hub of the velvet industry. The Chinese had a competitive advantage over Korea with cheaper labour and better processing plants and velvet passing through China to Korea helped lower the cost structure.

MacDonald acknowledged the work being done by DINZ to help businesses market new velvet-based products such as energy drinks.

New Zealand was a victim of its own success in velvet genetics, with a much higher proportion of A and B grades than in previous years. Canada, Russia and China still produce a mix of grades with A, B and C in roughly equal quantities.

Part of the problem with Super A was the ability of overseas operators to dry the “big stuff” properly without wasting part of the stick, MacDonald said.

In conclusion, he said he was leaving a very talented DINZ Board and hard-working executive and complimented them for the support given to velvet processors.

“Today I see a dedicated hard-core group of producers and processors, who have remained loyal to their beliefs in the deer industry. The price of venison is good and for velvet it is stable. It is a good time to be stepping down.”

JohnMacDonald:SteppingdownfromDINZBoard.

Not all work was fruitful – for example, a dalliance with Western nutraceuticals didn’t gain traction, partly because large doses of a relatively expensive product were required, and also because of the impact of chronic wasting disease nullifying the Canadian velvet industry – and its investment. He was still optimistic for the prospects of RepaiRx, however, despite the time it was taking to go through the regulatory hoops. If the product is successfully licensed the industry could look forward to a six or seven figure dollar return.

Looking ahead he said the new science environment allowed uncontestable funding for core purpose work. “This is an opportunity for this industry right now but you’ll have to be very careful about leveraging that funding going forward.”

He is confident for the future of velvet industry product development, particularly in the area of health support for older people (boosted immunity and so on), further work on dose levels required for a therapeutic effect in older people, work on products for pets (treatment of osteoarthritis) and further work on stem cells – looking at the substances and factors that stimulate regeneration.

“It’s a great product and it’s been a great opportunity to work on it with you.”

Science provides backbone.. continued from page 21



Succession planning: It’s never too early to start!Having been brought up on a sheep and beef farm and with an interest in a sheep, beef and deer farm equity partnership, Rabobank’s Dunedin Branch Manager, Brent Irving, was well qualified to talk to deer farmers about farm ownership models and succession planning.

Irving also heads up Rabobank’s Equity Partnership Programme and manages a portfolio of larger livestock farming clients.

Looking at recent trends in farm costs and incomes, he pointed out that business turnover is growing as commodity prices, capital livestock and working capital requirements are increasing. Grazing land, for example, has increased in value by 180 percent in the past decade. Farm sizes were also growing, with the MAF model showing deer farm sizes and stock units per farm increasing by about half over the same period. And the value of dairy farms has risen from $5,000 to $40,000 per hectare since 1987. Over the same period, sheep and beef land increased from $600 to $7,500 per hectare. Added to that, the economic unit keeps getting larger, putting ownership further out of reach for some.

In just six years, total farm debt in New Zealand has more than doubled from $18.8 billion (2003) to an eye-watering $47.5 billion (March 2011).

“For an individual to achieve farm ownership, the bar keeps lifting,” Irving said.

Despite the hurdles, the passion among young people to get into farming still burns strongly and Irving said the challenge is to find innovative ways to get them on the path to ownership.

“People are now starting to look for return on investment rather than capital gain,” he said, “and banks are looking for a profitable outcome.”

He said these and other factors have combined to make succession planning more of a challenge than it used to be. In addition to the increase in farm values and debt, societal trends have made a difference. These include:

• longerlifeexpectancywithfarmersneedingmorecapital to relocate and enjoy their retirement, which they want to take earlier than in the past

• adesiretotreatallsiblingsequally• agreaternumberofseparationsanddivorcescreating

complex settlements and pressures on assets.

Irving said the global financial crisis (GFC) had hit some off-farm investments and those looking to exit the industry were keen to leave some of their money in the land – a relatively safe haven. This opened up the opportunity for lease arrangements. Generally, farm sales had slowed following the GFC.

“We’ve seen more corporate ownership, foreign ownership and managed funds buying farms,” he said. “We’re also seeing more equity partnerships. In Southland in 2009, 70 percent of the dairy farm sales involved equity partnerships.”

Rabobank had adapted to the new environment, setting up six regional equity partnership specialists and a succession planning facilitation service led by Tony Hammington.

“It’s never too early to start succession planning. We’re not trying to replace the law profession, but just get the family together to go to these professionals with their plans.”

Recognising the farm business and ownership models are becoming increasingly sophisticated, Rabobank has also set up executive development and farm managers’ programmes to help equip the next generation of farm owners and managers with the tools to take their businesses to the next level.

Irving gave several examples of models that put young farmers on the path to ownership while allowing the business to expand and taking care of the needs of their parents or previous owners as they pulled back from the business.

Often these involved a staged programme where a minority interest was purchased outright with the balance leased for a set term and outright purchase completed at an agreed date within valuation limits. Ownership of stock and plant was often treated separately.

Equity partnerships with neighbours or investors members also featured in the deals.

Irving said the important thing was to get the professionals working together, to be prepared, to be flexible and for the parties involved to get independent advice. In conclusion he said the solutions could be quite complex, so it was important that everything was clearly documented and well understood by all.

“It’s worth the effort if we’re going to retain young talent in a farming business.”

Red hinds for sale: 400 rising 2 year

To be VIC 20th June

90kg+ liveweight; C10 status

Delivery late June or will winter graze until September by arrangement.

Quality deer from Loch-Moigh Farms – breeding deer since 1953.

Phone: 06 325 8795 • 027 [email protected]

BrentIrving:Thereareinnovativepathwaysavailableforfarmownership.



“Faces of the future” forum – a breath of fresh airTwo days of excellent conference presentations were capped off with what it was all about: giving the next generation of deer farmers a voice.

The Faces of the future forum was set up with two panels of five each: the young “faces of the future” and five “wise men”. Panel members from each “side” (it wasn’t adversarial) spoke in pairs each giving their personal perspective on the industry, followed by a short Q&A session. The session was facilitated by Nicky Hyslop of Macfarlane Rural Business with the daunting task of summing up falling to South Canterbury Federated Farmers President, Dr William Rolleston.

It was a thoughtful and engaging session that kept everyone involved. We can’t possibly do the two hours or so of good discussion any justice here, but will provide brief highlights from each presentation.

Hayden Roberts, 35, farming in partnership with his parents Don and Isobel at Pleasant Point.

• Athird-generationfarmer;financialrewardsarenotthe biggest incentive; shares a passion for deer and taking care of the land.

• Theindustryfaceschallengessuchastherural–urbandivide and difficulty attracting good people into it.

• Isaimingforlargercarcassesandyield,freedomfromTb and Johne’s disease and would like to see greater venison consumption within New Zealand.

Keith Orange, 30 years in industry, owner/operator Downlands Deer Transport

• AgreeswithHayden’sviewthatpassionfordeerisarecurring theme.

• Thepassionlastslongerwhenitstartstoreturnadividend!

• Deerhavebeendrivenoff the best finishing land by dairying, but are outcompeting sheep in the high country.

• Isolationandlackofbroadband/cellphone coverage is a constraint in the high country.

• Calledforbetterverticalintegration from breeders through to marketers, to smooth out the roller coaster prices.

Q&A comments• Bettercommunicationtothe

wider public through this conference and DINZ will help bridge the urban–rural divide.

• TheenthusiasmaroundtheFocus Farm programme is infectious – this needs to be spread further through the industry.

Hamish Fraser, Rural Manager National Bank• SonofAndrewandWendyFraser;hastwobrothers

also involved in the deer farm.• Allthreebrothersarestayinginthebusiness.• Withtheaverageageoffarmersmorethan50,

succession planning is a big issue – we want to manage it without burdening the farm with debt.

• Lackofnewentrantsintodeerindustryisachallenge.• Governanceofafamilybusinessisimportant.A

board of directors approach, possibly including an independent member, can add some strategic direction.

• Lessonscouldbelearnedfromthedairyindustrywhendesigning ownership structures to facilitate entry into the industry.

Jeffery Pearse, 30 years in industry, Waitohi, South Canterbury

• Successionplanningisimportant,withthreesonsabout to come on board.

• Theparentswanttobeabletotakecapitaloutofthebusiness at some time in the future without affecting its viability.

• Familyhasdiversifiedinvestmentsincludingforestrypartnerships to provide this.

• Familyhasalsoinvestedindairying,withfamilymembers involved.

• Andmostimportantly,thefamilyfarmsdeer!Becauseof the low labour requirements we have been able to set up multiple units. On the tussock block a year’s work can be done in one day!

Thepastandthefuturemeet.Backrowfromleft,The“FacesoftheFuture”Panellists:AngelaWhyte,HamishFraserMurrayCoutts,NickyHyslop(facilitator),DuncanFraserandHaydenRoberts.Frontrowfromleft,the“WiseMen”:PeterAitken,PaddyBoyd,WilliamRolleston(summary),ColinStevenson,JefferyPearseandKeithOrange.



Q&A comments• Earlycommunicationisimportantforsuccession

planning.• Dividingupasmallerpieamongfamilymembersisa

bigger challenge.

Duncan Fraser, 21, works on family farm at Hunter, South Canterbury

• SonofAndrewandWendyandbrotherofHamish– grew up on family farm and is heavily involved in velvet and trophy side of business.

• Gotcommercialhelicopterlicenceandrunsownoutfitting business.

• NewZealandisbecomingaprizedtrophydestination,especially for European and Asian clients.

• Emphasisisshiftingfromantlersizealonetoaesthetics.

• Increasedcomplianceandredtapeprovideschallenges.

• Ourbreedershavedoneagreatjob,buthaveweshotourselves in the foot by exporting trophy genetics?

Colin Stevenson, Managing Director, CK Import Export Co• Farmeddeer1981–2009andstartedexporting

byproducts and velvet in 1985.• Maintaininghighstandardsisimportantfortrophy,

venison and velvet sectors.• Wemustbecarefultoprotectourfreedomtooperate

in the trophy industry – look what happened to fox hunting in the United Kingdom!

• Foreigninvestmentmightbeactingasabarriertoouryoung people getting into farming.

Q&A comments• Agreedthat“cannedshoots”arebadforthetrophy

industry but it is worse overseas.• InAfrica,ifananimalhasspentany of its life behind

wire, trophy hunting is defined as a “canned shoot” so internationally the bar is set high.

Angela Whyte, works on parents’ deer farm at Mt Possession, Canterbury

• IsthedaughterofDonaldandLeighWhyte.• HasdoneuniversityandOEandtriedvariousjobs

including retail and caregiving.• Hasworkedonadairyfarm–smallstaturenota

handicap because brute force is not always the best solution!

• Isdeterminedtoachieveonherownmerits.• Concernedaboutthefutureofvelvetting:velvetting-

free venison might be equated with cage-free pork in consumers’ eyes.

• Wemightneedacelebrityendorsementofvenisonsothat it’s seen in the same light as other meat and more Kiwis are educated about its virtues.

Peter Aitken, Farm Business Manager for Landcorp Farming Weka Complex on West Coast

• OwnsdeerfarminManiototo;1600hinds,200cowsand 2,500 trade lambs

• Farmsuccessionproblemscanbetheworstformofchild abuse!

• ImpressedwithAngelaWhyte’spassionandvisionforthe industry.

• Weneedtobringscience,innovationandpracticalityto bear.

• Theindustryisageingandweneedtobringthenextgeneration through.

• Youngpeoplemightseemdifficultattimesbutsowerewe in our youth!

• Ourindustryisnotforthefainthearted.

Murray “Young” Coutts (age not supplied)• Secondincharge,RooneyFarms;22years’experience

in building trade (see Deer Industry News profile, April 2011).

• Deerfarmingsince1994.• Firstforayinfarmingwaswithsheep,pigsandcattle.

Gave away sheep after Fortex shut down.• Choicenextwasostrichesordeer–madetheright

choice and built up from a small mob of 21 weaners. Knew nothing about farming them and took two days of chasing to round them up for their first drench.

• Builtupherdbysharefarming;downsizedafterpartners exited.

• Eightyearsagogotdreamjob(RooneyFarms)managing deer and still farming some of my own.

Paddy Boyd, Manager Haldon Station, 30,000SU, 30 years in deer

• MuchofwhatIheardtodayhasbeenmusictomyears! We need to encourage the next generation of deer farmers and mentor them.

• Largecorporatedeerfarmerscanofferopportunitiesto young people getting into the industry.

• Womenintheindustryhavealottoofferandinmyexperience show special skills in areas such as genetics and feed management.

• Theindustryneedstodevelopapathwayfordeerfarmownership.

Q&A comments• Negativeperceptionsaroundfarmingatsecondary

schools might put people off the industry.• Effortneededtoraisetheprofileoffarmingasacareer

among young people.• Don’tjustwaitforpeopletoshowinterestinfarming–

if people act at local level to engage with young people and get them involved, this will have a big cumulative effect.

Summary: William Rolleston• Ourindustryneedstomaintainitspassionand

embrace challenges, growth and diversity at a business and personal level.

• Wemustbecreative,outwardlookingandexplorenewmarkets and products and good branding.

• Successionplanningneedstobeequitableanddoneproperly, with responsible management of debt.

• Bureaucracyandcompliancecostsareathreattoourindustry.

• Ourbusinessesneedtherightstructuresandpartnerships with vertical integration and an understanding of how the entire value chain works.

• Thedeerindustrymustprovideyoungpeoplewithagood career structure.

• Goodsciencemustbeappliedtoallaspectsofthedeerindustry – genetics, quality, animal welfare, disease risks and so on.

• Intheend,though,itispeoplethatmatter!



Superb field day at Raincliff StationIt would be fair to say that David Morgan probably didn’t get too much sleep on the eve of the Raincliff Station field day, held in association with the 2011 deer industry conference on 19 May. He needn’t have worried. The day dawned fine and still, and along with wife Janet and children Ellie, Brychen and Millie the field day Morgan hosted was a triumph of organisation and high-quality presentation.

A surge in walk-up numbers boosted the expected 140 to well over 200 guests, but the family, farm staff and volunteers handled the challenge with aplomb, from the lunchtime catering to making sure there were enough tractors and feed wagons available to carry the visitors around the two main farm blocks.

It’s impossible to do justice to the wealth of information presented at this field day within the confines of Deer Industry News, but we will cover the highlights as best we can.

(To see an interview with David Morgan, follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REh6seJ3cRo, or simply search “Raincliff Station” on YouTube.)

Getting hereDavid Morgan’s love affair with deer started when he left the sheep and beef farm he’d grown up on in Wales and came to New Zealand on his OE in the 1980s. After shearing and sheep farming jobs, he worked on Tim Wallis’s Mararoa Station, at the end of the live capture era. Returning to Wales, he had been irretrievably infected with the deer bug and started out by purchasing 20 hinds and a few stags – one of which promptly broke its neck after running into a fence.

Undaunted by the £480 loss, he dressed and hung the unfortunate hind and took a venison sample to the Austrian chef at a local hotel/restaurant. The chef loved it and wanted more, and so began the growth of a deer business that eventually built to a herd of about 1,000 breeding and trading animals, employing six staff and processing up to 1,500 animals a year, plus beef, lamb and specialist meats. As well as supplying top restaurants around the UK, Morgan set up a mail-order business for chilled venison. He and Janet – a teacher – met and married during this period and Morgan said his wife’s support was crucial during those early years of growth.

The business was a precursor to the model that’s being espoused in New Zealand 25 years on, with close involvement right through the value chain to the end customer and key opinion leaders like chefs. The twin shocks to UK farming of BSE and then foot and mouth disease led the Morgans to reassess their plans. During this time he had been back to New Zealand on scholarship-funded visits and began to attract some attention from potential investors. In 2002, when the opportunity presented itself, David jumped at the chance to bring his family back to the country that had sparked his passion for deer.

With the backing of Danish investors and advice from Andy Macfarlane and Nicky Hyslop from Macfarlane Rural

DavidandJanetMorgan.

Breedingagoodsolidandfast-growingelk/wapititerminalsireisoneoftheproductivityobjectivesatRaincliff Station.



Business, the Morgans bought Raincliff Station in 2002. They got straight into developing the Station, but struck a hurdle in 2006 when the original investors decided a deer farm in New Zealand didn’t fit their global strategy.

The Morgans were forced to find new equity partners. A decision to invest in commercial properties in Christchurch when they first arrived in New Zealand paid off when they were able to sell these and provide the capital they needed to leverage new investment. An equity partner was eventually identified and so the business entered its next phase.

Morgan said he was impressed with the young deer farmers talking about succession planning at the Timaru conference. In his own case, the greatest opportunities for progress in the family tradition of farming presented themselves in New Zealand and he says the decision ten years ago to move here with his family has proven to be a good one.

Raincliff Station profileRaincliff is a mixed livestock enterprise running 18,751 stock units divided between deer (37 percent), cattle (48 percent) and sheep (15 percent). Stocking rate across the whole enterprise is 11 stock units per non-crop hectare.

The total effective area is 1,761 hectares, spread over four blocks:

• Raincliff Home Block (755ha total). The deer are run on this block, of which 576ha is deer fenced. The block includes 468ha of improved hill and downland, and 165ha of unimproved hill and flat.

• Riverview Block (733ha total). This block includes 309ha of irrigated flats with some forestry and easy hill country.

• Kowhai Block (leased, 320ha effective, sheep and beef)• Baxter Block (leased, 120ha effective).

Annual rainfall is about 800mm. The area can get very summer dry, although the late summer and autumn growth this year has been the best since the Morgans arrived.

Sheep (2,860 stock units)

There are 2,000 ewes, 480 ewe lambs and 400 trading lambs.

Cattle (8,931 stock units)

Of the cattle stock units, about 70 percent are accounted for by R1 and R2 bull beef, with a few heifers and smaller numbers of steers and dairy grazers.

Deer (6,960 stock units)2010 2011

MA hinds 1,500 1,000R2 hinds 327 568MS weaners 1,460 1,380R2 stags 348 390MA stags 843 550

Pasture mixes – examples• Late-floweringryegrass/Timothy/whiteclover(12/2/3

kg/ha)• Short-rotationryegrass/prairiegrass/whiteandred

clover/chicory-plantain (20/4/3/1 kg/ha)• MaxPfescue/Timothy/prairiegrass/whiteclover

(16/2/4/3 kg/ha)

Pasture and fodder crops

There is an aggressive programme of pasture improvement and regrassing at Raincliff Station. Main fodder crops for the deer and cattle are kale and fodder beet (Seed Force Blaze and Brigadier).

The hybrids are all-grass wintered and topped up with grain where necessary. The reds are wintered on fodder beet complemented with silage or baleage. Installation of a self-feed silage pit is helping simplify feed management for some hinds.

With crops like fodder beet that cost up to $2,500/hectare to establish and a large area irrigated on the flats, Raincliff Station is running a high input system. However the rewards are there with bulls putting on 1.1kg/day at one stage last winter when on fodder beet and ad lib silage.

David Morgan is constantly juggling livestock classes and feed policies. He said monitoring individual performance with the assistance of EID will be a great help with assessing the cost effectiveness of various crops.

“We can keep growing our bulls and deer during the winter – that gives us more options in spring if conditions are bad.”

Production figures – deer 2010/11

Red ElkFawning % incl. first calvers 88% 80%Weaning weights incl first calvers 51.4kg 70kgPre-weaning growth rates 432 g/day 588 g/dayPost-weaning growth rates 200+ g/day 355 g/dayTarget liveweight for first mating 90kg 150kgTarget liveweight Spikers Jan: 160–190kgYearling target carcass weight, hinds & stags 54kg 80kgVelvet weights 4.2kg 6.5kg

Gross production targets

In terms of meat output per hectare, production achieved has been:2002 (at purchase) 165 kg/ha2003/04 237 kg/ha2010/11 322 kg/ha

This compares with the targets set in the 2002 business plan:Medium term 329 kg/haLong term 400 kg/ha

Thus the medium-term goal has been almost reached and the long-term goal is within striking distance.

Fodderbeethasbeensuccessfullyintegratedintothefoddercroppingprogramme.



Financial returns: $/stock unit and $/kg output

$/stock unit $/kg outputSheep (breeding and finishing) $128 $5.35Bulls (finishing only) $134 $3.52Deer (breeding, finishing and velvet) $129 $9.21*Gross income/stock unit (ave.) $131 $4.43Farm working expenses/stock unit $76 $2.52EBIT/stock unit $55 $1.91*Includesvelvetincome.

The deer on Raincliff are running on the most difficult country. The young bulls are run on the irrigated flats and the two-year-old bulls are on dryland with the breeding hinds and stags.

Generic comparative profitability of livestock classes

EnterpriseNet margin/stock unit

Gross margin in c/kg DM consumed

Breeding ewes (120%) selling stores $64.40 10.3Breeding ewes (140%) finishing; hogget lambing $109.10 15.0Breeding cows (85%) finishing prime $75.90 11.8Weaners steers, finished 15 months (Five Star) $71.00 21.1Bull beef weaners–18 mths $168 20.3Bull beef 18mths–2 years $55.82 14.8Dairy heifers Dec–May $138.50 20.0Breeding hinds (86%) $86.00 17.8Venison finishing (slow)* $84.00 19.0Venison finishing (fast) $106 28.3Velvet stags ($85/kg)** $105 18.29*Thelowerreturnfortheslower-finishingvenisonispartlyaccountedforbythelowerscheduleatthetimeofsale.

**Atanaveragepriceof$105/kgvelvet,thisreturnwouldliftbyabout5cents/kgDMconsumed.

Source:FiguresextractedfromdatapreparedbyNickyHyslop,MacfarlaneRuralBusinessLtd.

Stock policy at RaincliffIdeally David Morgan would like to increase the proportion of deer, but he is also mindful of the environmental

constraints and what does best on what country. For example, the velvet stags do well on the rougher country while the bull beef thrives on the irrigated flats. Dry summers and wet winters can cause headaches as do winter snows (there was a metre of snow over the whole farm in 2006).

During wetter periods the hinds are kept off the more vulnerable pasture and fed out, thus preserving the pasture growth for later. “Even when there is good grass growth we’ll keep the animals on crop so that we’ve built up a reserve of pasture for later.”

He admits he lets his heart overrule his head at times, especially when it comes to the elk herd. He’s determined to continue breeding a good solid meat animal with good growth, that will suit his operation as a terminal sire. He’s also conscious that he’s probably carrying more velvet stags than he should, but he is a strong enthusiast for this branch of the industry – and for trophy stags, which also make up part of the stag breeding operation. “The velvet industry must be protected,” he says.

The triple bottom lineThe operation at Raincliff focuses strongly on all three outcomes: financial, social and environmental. The comprehensive information presented on financial performance shows that this is well understood and carefully monitored.

The Morgans are well entrenched in their local community and significant employers of farm staff (five full time) and contractors. And they are well in tune with the environment. Morgan is planning to fence, retire and plant sensitive areas and one of the first things he did on arriving in 2002 was involve his children in planting fenced blocks of native trees – already flourishing.

Gorse is a constant pest on the hills and Morgan has engaged in a hard fought battle to peg back the weed –

OneoftheblocksofnativeplantingsputinatRaincliffbytheMorganfamilysoonaftertheirarrivalatthestation.



including spraying, mulching and burning. He’s making progress, but as is typical of a restless man with plans, he’d like to have the battle won sooner rather than later.

SummaryIn many ways David Morgan embodies the future of deer farming that was put on display at the “Who Deers Wins” conference in Timaru. His style is a mixture of careful attention to detail, a willingness to take advice and surround himself with good people, being prepared to think laterally and take risks, an absolute passion for deer – and a sentimental streak that affirms financial success is just part of the equation. Putting everything on display for all to see is a big ask for any farmer. Morgan and his family and staff planned and executed a hugely successful field day with precision and care. Others to contribute to the day included Ravensdown, ASB Rural Timaru, Allflex Tags, Farmers Mutual Group, Temuka Transport and the Raincliff Youth Camp. Congratulations – and thanks to all.

Awards night caps off a great conferenceThe last night at Timaru was a fitting finale for a positive and constructive two days. Silver Fern Farms (SFF) was the premium conference partner and Chair Eoin Garden welcomed guests to the Awards Dinner.

He said venison formed an important component of the intricate relationship that SFF had with its overseas customers. While the early adopters and risk takers who established the industry were still here, the transient “followers of fashion” had long departed, he noted. The next generation were now benefiting from early research and experience that has meant they hardly know things like MCF and lungworm in deer, he added.

Garden was pleased to witness the positivity apparent during the conference but lamented the low profile given to deer and venison in the recently released Red Meat Strategy.

He said there had been numerous reports on the future of the meat industry, but the Red Meat Strategy had the important distinction of also involving producers.

He cautioned farmers not to hang too much faith on genetic progress without also understanding the nature of their productive base. FarmIQ would help bring all of those elements together, including genetics and farm management systems.

“We need people in the industry with the courage and foresight to change.”

Matuschka AwardIf sheer weight of experience was the only criterion, this year’s winners would have been well clear of the field. But it was far more than the remarkable 220 years of age racked up between the joint recipients of the 2011 Matuschka Award that convinced the judges of their merit.

Given to the “unseen hero – the sort of person who epitomises what Branch activity and commitment is all about”, this year’s recipients are Brian Freeman, Lawrence Rowe and Pat Rowe of the Central Regions Branch. In 1983 the trio, known collectively as the “Burger Kings” (and Queen), constructed and ran a burger stand as a fundraiser for their Branch at the annual Central Districts Field Days. Twenty-eight years later they are still manning the stand, and their now legendary burgers raised an invaluable $50,000 for the Branch over the past five years alone.

Delivering the citation, Producer Manager Tony Pearse said their legacy and continuing benefits to the Central Regions Branch are likely to continue well into the future.

Partofthecrowdofmorethan250guestswhoattendedthe Raincliff Stationfieldday

Queen’s Birthday honour for NeylonFormer DINZ Board Member Keith Neylon has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday honours, becoming a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to agriculture. Neylon has numerous business interests alongside his sheep, beef and deer farming enterprises. His Southland company Blue River Dairy Products manufactures a range of sheepmilk products and he is strongly involved in Thoroughbred breeding and racing. He also has interests in the seafood and aviation industries.

Neylon was appointed to the DINZ Board in 2007 as a producer representative and retired from the Board last year.

Raincliff Station... continued

coninued on page 30



“That strong team spirit and camaraderie that has now become part of Central Regions folk lore. A lot of the credit for this success can be directly laid at the feet of this committed and passionate trio.”

Making the announcement on the night was another living legend in his own right, Bob Swann. “If everyone in this room could do only half of what these three have done, what a wonderful organisation this would be,” he said.

Andy Jarden accepted the award on behalf of the winners, and in accordance with tradition, it will be presented to the three in person at a mid-winter Branch function.

AndyJarden(right)acceptstheMatuschkaAwardfromBobSwannonbehalfofwinnersBrianFreeman,LawrenceRoweandPatRowe.

Deer Industry AwardThe premier award for the night, sponsored by Porter Holdings, NZDFA and NZX Agri, is the Deer Industry Award, now in its 27th year. Presenting the award, Porter Holdings Director, Alistair Porter, told the many young people at this year’s awards that “you are the lucky ones because the industry has its best years ahead of it”.

There were two nominations this year: Graham Ramshaw, Chief Executive of Alpine Deer Group, and veterinarians Mandy Bell and Adrian Campbell of the Johne’s Research Group. The judges were Alistair Porter, Walter Somerville and Andrew Fraser.

Porter said the decision was unanimous but hard nonetheless.

The winners were Mandy Bell and Adrian Campbell, who had been inspirational leaders in rallying farmers, scientists, officials, industry leaders and others to the cause of combating Johne’s disease. “It’s probably one of the biggest challenges that’s faced this industry and the inspired work of these two has really led the industry to tackling this problem and achieving the success we have.”

Accepting the award Mandy Bell said things had gone full circle since the first time she encountered deer as a student veterinarian on Alastair Porter’s farm. And of Johne’s disease she added, “we’re not going to let the dust settle on this”. Adrian Campbell paid tribute to the influence of Dave Lawrence and Mike Bringans on his early career as a deer vet. “The Johne’s project has been difficult, but we’ve got through to this stage because reasonable people have supported the reasonable arguments we’ve put to them.”

MandyBellandAdrianCampbell,jointwinnersofthe2011DeerIndustryAward.

… and a special thanks and farewell to the TaylorsThere was a special postscript to this year’s awards night with a public farewell and show of gratitude to outgoing NZDFA Executive Committee Chairman, Bill Taylor and his wife Jill.

“You’ve been an enriching experience in my life and that of DINZ and NZDFA,” said DINZ Producer Manager, Tony Pearse.

Incoming Executive Committee Chairman, Edmund Noonan, also thanked Bill for his leadership and commitment to the industry and Andrew Fraser proposed a vote of thanks to the couple.

In reply, Bill Taylor said he had enjoyed his eight years on the Executive Committee and three as Chairman, noting that “It will be a change to have to pay my own way to conference next year!”

While there were things he hadn’t achieved, he was full of gratitude to his wife Jill and family, and his colleagues in the industry. In conclusion Bill said his slightly tongue-in-cheek editorial in the April Deer Industry News (“Not sexy enough?”), although humorous also contained a serious message – that the NZDFA still has plenty to offer its members and the deer industry. And people needed to come forward into leadership positions in their Branches and the NZDFA. “We need a succession of young people to step up and represent the farmer. All the DFA has to do is represent farmers. If that gets in people’s way, then that’s tough!”

Bill congratulated the award winners for the evening and the South Canterbury/North Otago Branch for organising a magnificent conference. He was given a sustained, standing ovation.

BillandJillTaylor.

Awards night... continued from page 29


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NZDFA Annual General Meeting 2011 The NZDFA’s AGM was shifted to the start of the conference programme in Timaru this year. This meant the more formal and procedural matters were dealt with at the outset before the conference moved to the more substantive part of the “Who Deers Wins” theme.

One unfortunate consequence of the schedule change was that a delayed flight from Wellington deprived the AGM of one of its guest speakers (William McCook, AHB) and your Deer Industry News reporter. As a result, the following report is somewhat abbreviated – thanks to Tony Pearse for assisting with coverage (as usual, the complete minutes will be available in the next NZDFA Annual Report).

The initial formalities on the agenda were dealt with promptly, before the delivery of the Chairman’s report and financial report.

Chairman’s reportBill Taylor delivered his final report to the AGM as Chair of the NZDFA Executive Committee (see NZDFA Annual Report in the April Deer Industry News for a written report).

It is customary for a prominent figure in the deer industry to second the Chairman’s report from the floor. In recent years this task has fallen to Clive Jermy, but he was absent this year because of illness and the role was ably taken over by former DFA Chair, John Spiers.

He endorsed the move to involve new faces at the six-monthly Branch Chairmen’s meetings and said it was important to develop young people as members of the industry as well as future leaders.

While New Zealand led the world as a producer and exporter of deer velvet, Spiers said the current standoff between two major players in the velvet industry was frustrating progress. He said it would be a tragedy to let the current situation continue unresolved.

The DINZ staff, DFA members and AHB personnel who had worked so hard on industry-wide issues such as NAIT, Johne’s research and the fight against bovine Tb deserved the thanks of all in the industry. He said the latest news that there were only four Tb-infected deer herds was very pleasing.

“And finally, on behalf of the conference and all deer farmers I would like to thank Bill Taylor for his tenacity and ‘dog-with-a-bone’ approach to getting problems resolved. His strong leadership and commitment to the NZDFA are truly appreciated.”

A formal farewell to Bill and Jill Taylor was held the following night at the conference Awards Dinner.

NZDFA formal financial motions, 2011

MOTION 1: Financial accounts and statements for the year ending 2010/2011.

“That the Audited NZDFA financial statements and accounts for the year ending 31 March 2011 be received and approved.”

Moved: Earle Wells, Seconded: Edmund Noonan CARRIED

MOTION 2: Honoraria

“That the Executive Committee honoraria for the 2010/11 financial year be fixed at $9,000 for the elected Chairman, and $6,000 for each other Executive Committee member.”

Moved: Harry Robinson, Seconded: John Spiers CARRIED

MOTION 3: Auditors

“That Deloitte be appointed as NZDFA auditors for the ensuing year, 2011/12.”

Moved: Malcolm Gilbert, Seconded: Edmund Noonan CARRIED

MOTION 4: Budget to year ending 31 MARCH 2012

“That the NZDFA budget of expenditure for the year ending 31 March 2012 be approved.”

Moved: Earle Wells, Seconded: Justin Stevens CARRIED

Constitutional Motion Clause 5.1 Membership classes;

Elected members: persons who, upon paying a full membership subscription, who do not qualify for full membership, but have been nominated by a Branch and subsequently approved by the Executive Committee (in its discretion) to be an Elected Member.

Qualifiers:

1. It is anticipated that any such person would be actively involved in the functions of the Branch; actively involved in the wider industry, including but not confined to the management and farming of deer, or in a professional working capacity in the deer sector

and

2. have been proposed and elected by a simple majority at a Branch meeting properly constituted for that purpose to be nominated as an elected member and that nomination be sent in writing to the Executive Committee for its approval.

Moved: Bill Taylor, Seconded: John Mace CARRIED

Branch Remits 2011All Branch remits received support from the Branch Chairmen’s meeting prior to the AGM, especially the leadership remits from Canterbury.

1. Southland: NAIT funding

“That the NZDFA and DINZ do all they can to ensure that the NAIT sector share funding commitments, based on the


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agreed cost share formula is determined by each sector through developing their own preferred and appropriate methods of collecting their share of these costs”.

Moved: John Somerville, Seconded: David Stevens CARRIED unanimously

2. Canterbury: Leadership strategy

“That the NZDFA Executive Committee as a priority develop and implement a strategy to encourage and develop leadership initiatives at all levels of the Association to ensure future succession in its leadership.”

Moved: Malcolm Gilbert, Seconded: Edmund Noonan CARRIED unanimously

3. Canterbury: Leadership programmes

“That the NZDFA Executive Committee in conjunction with the DFA’s Branches on an annual basis promote applicants to the Kellogg Rural Leadership programme or equivalent programmes and source funds to subsidise a proportion of the course fee for successful applicants from the deer industry to attend.”

In discussion it was noted that the support for leadership training should not be limited to the Kellogg course. Branches were encouraged to nominate members for leadership training. (Newly-elected Executive Committee member, Kris Orange, has enrolled for the 2011 Kellogg programme.)

John Spiers noted that the Ian Spiers Memorial Trust would consider supporting leadership training proposals and encouraged Branches to transfer funds into the Trust to help boost the resources available to support future leaders. The Fallow Society of New Zealand had shown a fine example by investing $18,000 in the fund and donating the interest and principle gains.

Moved: Malcolm Gilbert, Seconded: Jeffery Pearse CARRIED unanimously

Invited speakersPonty von Dadelszen spoke in lieu of the plane-delayed William McCook. He noted that AHB levies were likely to fall to 5–6 cents next year from the current 7.2 cents. This was made possible through the an agreement reached with the funding sectors to redress the deer industry share basis by $400,000 in 2012. Reserves that have been applied over the past five years are now utilised. Von Dadelszen also advised that the Representatives’ Committee has resolved to develop an agreed funding formula for the future by 2012. The concept of merging activities and governance of NAIT and the AHB was still in development and was supported.

Russell Burnard, CEO of NAIT Ltd, discussed cost recovery. He accepted that decisions by the NAIT Board had caused dissent among farmers and noted that allowing a different tag colour for deer would enable a differential tag levy. The 2 percent share of total costs by the deer sector was accepted however. Tag manufacturers had indicated there would be no problems with differentiated tag colours, he said.

The four candidates for the producer position on the DINZ Board – Tim Aitken, David Morgan, William Oliver and Bill

Taylor – each made brief addresses to the meeting. (Profiles of each were published in the April 2011 Deer Industry News.) The Selection and Appointments Panel was due to meet the candidates in mid-June.

2011 Election results: NZDFA Executive CommitteeReturning Officer: J Mueller, Senior Finance Officer, Beef and Lamb NZ

An election was required for two Executive Committee positions – one each for the North and South Islands. It was noted that voting participation this year was higher than in previous years.

Wilton Turner was elected as North Island Executive Committee member 2011–2013 by a majority of 32 votes and Kris Orange was elected as South Island Executive Committee member for 2011–2013 by a majority of 109 votes.

NZDFA Executive Committee North Island

Candidate TOTALRachael Mitchell 185Wilton Turner 217Informal/invalid 12Total valid votes 402

NZDFA Executive Committee South Island

Candidate TOTALMalcolm Gilbert 164Kris Orange 273Informal 6Total valid votes 437

Overtoyou:OutgoingNZDFAExecutiveCommitteeChair,BillTaylor,(left)congratulatesincomingChair,EdmundNoonan.


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NZDFA BRANCH CHAIRMAN PROFILE:Paul Mucalo – WairoaWairoa Branch’s Paul Mucalo doesn’t have a background in farming, but he’s turned experience of hunting and capturing deer into a lifelong career.

Paul started as a private deer hunter, but turned to culling deer for the then Forest Service. “When the price was high, I’d hunt for meat and when the price dropped or winter came on, I went back culling.”

After eight years of culling and meat hunting, Paul and a friend, who had a large block, tried capturing deer. “I could see the potential while I was culling, so we started catching deer. This was before you could sell them, so we were giving them away to a wildlife trust.” A pilot for Mountain Helicopters spotted the pair’s activities and introduced them to the late Rex Giles (of New Zealand deer farming licence No 1 fame). As a result, they started deer farming in the back of Te Mahanga station. Eventually he became manager of all Rex’s farming operations, based at Forest Park.

The cost of Tb testing and isolation of the property eventually put an end to this capturing operation. “I didn’t have enough money to buy a farm, so I bought a fish and chip shop and ran that for a couple of years.”

Then, about 20 years ago, Paul and his wife, Josie, fell in love with their current block, on the outskirts of Wairoa. “It was a run-down farm that had been leased for sheep, but we had to meet the owner before we could buy it. She was retired and looking for someone to take over the family farm. She wasn’t as worried about the money as much as seeing the right person get the farm. We had three young children and she was happy to see us arrive.”

A run-down farm suited Paul. “We could start from scratch. It had a ruggedness, with some quite steep country, and was full of gorse when we bought it. I took a bulldozer to it and we had to clear out a lot of old sheep fencing.”

The 53-hectare, fully deer-fenced property is summer dry and cold, though frost-free, in winter. Paul has reliable year-round water, with dams, town water, a 180-foot well, and four 20,000-litre rainwater tanks placed around the farm.

After starting with both hinds and stags Paul now runs 230–240 stags, along with some other stock, and cuts a tonne of velvet a year. The stags forage, grass is cut on the property and baleage is fed out during winter. “I usually feed the big stags 8–10 tonnes of maize later in the season to get a velvet boost in.”

The velvet focus means that a crush and walk-in freezer arrived before power at the house. “There was an old house on the block and I promised my wife that after five years of establishing the farm, I’d build her a new house. We had no power in the new house for another five years, which created some dissent because I had power down at the deer shed. But the cost of getting power was prohibitive and I could see the money better spent where I could make money. We’re powered up now – and I’m still married!”

Animal health issues are dealt with as a necessity, not a

cost. “Around August, if any stags have picked up worms, I drench the lot. During the roar I sometimes get two or three older animals scouring. I’ll drench them in May, towards the end of the roar: stags can go down pretty quick in winter if they have any sort of worm burden.”

Despite soil reports indicating good copper levels, Paul had a problem. During the early establishment, he noticed sway back in three stags and got his vet to check them out. “As soon as he saw them try to run, he said ‘copper problems’. My soil tests also showed molybdenum and other copper inhibitors; he said a copper bullet would fix it, so we started using copper but the three stags died during the winter. Since using the bullets I haven’t had any deficiency problems. I pay about $3 each, so it costs about $700 a year. I lost more than that with those three stags.”

Paul buys his stags as two-year-olds from Johnny Douglas in central Hawke’s Bay and is pleased with the results. Johnny initially raised Rakaia reds (“beautiful quiet stags”) and has recently tried Furzelands. “Some seemed to be quiet but others could be quite toey; they’d jump over fences and look for holes.” After some discussion, Johnny has crossed Furzeland with the Rakaia strain: “Furzeland are perfect velvet stags. Rakaia tend to have weak bottom tynes but grow a beautiful beam; we hope to get the quietness back as well as the antler beam and weight.”

The velvet is sold to road buyer Neil Mercer, with whom Paul has a long and close relationship. “There’s value in having the money there and then: if something comes along, you have the money to take advantage of it. If you haven’t got your money, you either have to borrow, at a cost, or do nothing, which could be another cost.

“I have no problems with the [velvet selling] system deer farmers are trying to set up, but I think it’s going through a teething stage. We need a cooperative system but we also need the road buyers. A variety of selling options helps keep everybody honest! And if a road buyer is too low, we don’t sell to him.”

The Mucalos’ 22-year-old daughter, Amy, is following in her father’s footsteps. She’s helped out on the farm since she was little and recently become an accredited velvetter. She’s returning to Wairoa with her partner and Paul hopes she’s going to take over more of the running of the farm. “She’s

PaulMucalo:Roadbuyerswillalwayshaveanimportantroletoplayinthevelvetindustry

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Profile: Kris OrangeKris Orange brings a diverse wealth of experience to his new position as a South Island member of the NZDFA Executive Committee. He has been involved in deer transport for 20 years and farming for 10.

“I’m very keen to see more young people getting involved in deer farming and carry the momentum forward,” he said. “For example I’d like to see us getting more involved in encouraging the industry through tertiary training institutions like Lincoln–Telford and Massey. This was brought home strongly at the recent deer industry conference where it was noted that out of 95 agriculture students at Telford, only five were involved in deer farming. We need to do better than that.”

He said that the problem lay largely in the perception of deer by people who had never farmed them. Too many people thought deer were skittery and difficult and believed the industry lacked stability, but the truth was that over the past ten years deer farming had performed better and been more stable than dairying, he said. “We need to get that message across better. In particular there’s a great future in farming the foothills. South Canterbury deer farmers have now proven that hinds are a really good fit and can very successfully and profitably replace sheep on land that is never going to be suitable for dairying.

“Operations like Whiterock Station have proven that hinds or weaners earn better returns than cattle. The Focus Farms have played a huge role, not just in getting this message across but also introducing people to deer who don’t come from a background in the industry. We need to duplicate this in more places.

“It’s great to see foothills and high-country operations holding their own and even expanding, especially when there is so much loss of low-country land to dairying, and downsizing of lowland deer farms.”

Kris, 36, lives with his wife Cathie and their three children on a 260-hectare finishing property, Downlands, near Geraldine, run in conjunction with his parents Keith and Ruth. The family also have an 800-hectare breeding unit on tussock at Dunback, near Palmerston. “We breed about 700 of our own weaners a year and buy in extra stock to finish a total of about 1,500,” Kris said. “My parents and one farmhand do most of the day-to-day work while I manage the transport side of the business and do some of the agricultural work.”

Kris recognises further change is inevitable and deer farmers have to embrace its positive side. “NAIT will be a can of worms but I do see huge potential in electronic identification as a valuable productivity-increasing tool because it makes it so easy to keep detailed records of growth rates and to keep track of velvet history. As a deer transport operator I’m very aware that there will be transitional difficulties and I would urge farmers not to lose confidence before it’s been properly tried and sorted out.”

Kris is also part way through this year’s Kellogg Rural Leaders Programme, which he says gave him the confidence to stand for the DFA Executive Committee. “Again, more deer farmers need to get involved in this programme – I was the only deer farmer in this year’s intake of 19. In addition to DINZ funding there are other avenues within the NZDFA to provide sponsorship for attending the programme.”

indicated she wants to. In a couple of years Josie and I want to do some travelling, so it would be good to have someone take over.”

And that velvetting licence has been a real bonus: “I injured my back quite badly before velvetting and had to have an operation. I couldn’t twist or bend, so Amy did all the velvetting this season, with me standing by.”

Paul is into his second year as Branch Chairman; it’s his second go, having held the chair in 2003. Wairoa Branch changes chairmen every two to three years. “After that, you’ve put across your ideas and we try to let the next one move in. But it’s getting more and more difficult because our membership is shrinking.”

Wairoa is not a huge Branch, with about 24 active members stretched between Tutira in the south and Wharerata in the north; some farms have as many as 1,000 deer. “It can be very hard to get them to participate because we’re all older guys: there are very few under 50.”

The Branch has a strong committee and a committed secretary in Ian Pickering. Motivations for members this

year will include a couple of outings, field days and the annual velvet competition, coinciding with the Branch’s Christmas do at the end of November.

There were issues, particularly around velvet, that Paul wanted to put forward. “You have to be in a position of power to get anything done; you can’t do anything from the sidelines.”

His initial concerns about velvet have largely been resolved. “There has been a complete change and I’m pleased with the way everybody is acting now, particularly the advice coming from DINZ to stick with whoever you’re selling to and be faithful to them.”

Paul also says that erratic venison prices have been of concern to Branch members. But again, the situation is levelling out, with supply and demand helping to stabilise prices and production. “I’m very pleased with the way DINZ CEO, Mark O’Connor, and Velvet Marketing Services Manager, Rhys Griffiths, have conducted themselves over the last year. It’s good to see them standing up and being heard and getting down to the nitty gritty.”

KrisOrange:Keentoseemoreyoungpeopleattractedtotheindustry

Paul Mucalo... continued from page 33


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Profile: Edmund NoonanNew NZDFA Executive Committee Chairman Edmund Noonan, 51, has no regrets about his decision early in his farming career that he preferred deer to sheep.

“After finishing a diploma in farm management in the early 1980s I decided sheep were not for me, and briefly ‘defaulted’ back to the dairy industry. Then I made the conscious decision that although I liked the ‘hands-on’ of farming, the herd manager or sharemilker route was also not for me. I liked the survivability of deer, their hardiness and the low labour input required. You have to be a stockman to like deer.”

After a period farming in the North Island he returned to Canterbury during the 1990s, and managed Heatherlea Deer Park at Hororata, farming for venison and velvet, breeding and finishing from a red deer hind base of 1,400, and velvetting up to 1,200 stags annually.

Always active in the NZDFA at regional level, more recently he was Chairman of the Canterbury Branch (2005–2008) and has been closely involved in the Johne’s Research Group as a farmer representative. Three years ago he became a South Island representative on the NZDFA Executive Committee.

He’s excited about his new challenge as Chairman. In particular he sees a need for all parties in the deer industry to continue to work together. “The relationship between breeder and finisher in particular needs to be strengthened. The ‘winners and losers’ problem needs to be taken out of the game by selling at a price per kg in autumn, with a part payment at that time, followed by a share in the returns after the animals are actually sold. This will ensure a more equitable sharing of both the risks and the benefits.”

Farmers and the processing sector needed to collaborate and continue to build more direct relationships with customers, he said. This will be facilitated by long-term commitments and certainty of supply. “We’re looking for connectivity right through the supply chain. Securing product means there has to be something in it for both parties. This flows through to contractual arrangements between farmers, processors and customers. It allows all parties within the supply chain to have certainty but does require farmers and processors to commit to each other for at least a season. There needs to be a seamless production flow throughout the supply chain.”

He’s optimistic about the future and is confident that more younger people will see the advantages of deer farming and enter the industry.

“It has taken until this year for the capital stock slaughter to at have at least slowed – about 48 percent of total production is accounted for by hinds – with the first signs of a small breeding herd base increase. Now we’re poised to really move ahead, there’s opportunity for measured growth.

“New blood is absolutely critical. At the May conference it was excellent to see a growing turnout of younger people. This was the first conference I have seen where the

stewardship of the industry has noticeably shifted from the early innovators into a new and younger generation of deer farmers. Of course, the role of innovation is not complete and never will be. Education is important too and it’s good to see many more farmers with tertiary qualifications.”

Recent developments in the industry such as National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) posed a challenge but carried benefits too, he said. “NAIT is an important evolution in lifetime traceability to support marketing in our industry. However, we’re still working to achieve a sensible, practical and workable solution. It’s going to happen and we need it to future-proof the industry, but operationally it still has to be practical and cost-effective. That’s the challenge.”

But he is critical of the Emissions Trading Scheme: “Make no mistake about the ETS; it’s designed to comply with overseas treaty obligations, which is not the same as being an efficient carbon farmer. The driving force is economic, not environmental. It’s based on accounting rather than sustainability and what’s best for the ecosystem.

“ETS is a tax on production so is doomed to failure in its present form. Bankers have control of the carbon market and are not going to drop the price, because there are too many credits in Europe whose value needs to be maintained.

“In New Zealand we already farm sustainably and just need to document and prove that, while of course continuing to further reduce our environmental footprint. Being environmentally efficient is about being operationally efficient, because both are about optimal use of resources.”

Noonan says the Labour party’s recent policy announcement on the ETS is “outrageous”.

“They’re proposing to use an international obligation as a means of gathering tax revenue straight into the consolidated fund.”

He also argues that the ETS shouldn’t involve methane. “New Zealand produces about 80 percent of its greenhouse gases through agriculture, but most of that is methane, and that’s part of a sustainable cycle. It’s not the same thing at all as CO2 that comes from fossil fuel. This very obvious difference should be more widely recognised.”

EdmundNoonan:TherewillbebenefitsfromNAITbutitmustbeworkableandpracticalfordeerfarmers.


MarketReport

Venison

ScheduleIn the week beginning 7 June, the national average published schedule was $8.03/kg. This is 19% higher than the same week last year. If the schedule follows a similar pattern to last year, it may stay around this level for another month before appreciating as increased volumes of chilled venison are shipped for the European game season. The seasonal peak will be affected by the strength of the New Zealand dollar. The NZD is currently trading at similar levels to this time last year against the euro, but is 20% stronger against the USD.

ProductionThe February kill was 38,960 deer, up from 32,000 a year earlier. Stags accounted for 63% of the kill, up from 61% a year earlier. For the 12 months to the end of February, stags accounted for 53% of the kill, up from 51% for the previous 12-month period. The total kill for the 12 months to the end of February was 394,000, down from 412,000 the previous year.

ExportsVenison exports totalled 16,000 tonnes for the 12 months to April, up strongly on the previous 12 months. This indicates strong demand from European importers wanting to restock their inventories in advance of the coming game season, plus increased chilled exports. Chilled exports for January to April are running 45% ahead of exports a year ago, indicating improving off-season demand for venison.

Market conditionsIncreasing commodity prices are underpinning strong venison pricing. Beef prices have improved from post-recession lows but remain off 2008 peaks. Sheepmeat pricing, however, is hitting unprecedented levels and will be testing consumers’ price tolerance over the European summer.

VelvetThe New Zealand dollar continues to strengthen, providing a challenge for any remaining unsold velvet. A successful promotion in Korea was held and investigation continues into healthy function foods.

As New Zealand’s key Asian markets enter the summer months, promotional activity and velvet consumption reduce. Companies marketing New Zealand velvet are starting to plan their campaigns for next season, starting in October/November.

New Zealand velvet seasonMost of New Zealand’s velvet production has now been sold so that the New Zealand velvet industry should not be going into next season with stocks in this country. Velvet stocks in Korea and China appear to be manageable, with a couple of importers commenting that they would have liked to have received more velvet. There is a view, however, that the proportion of Super A is too high, and is more difficult to sell.

Foreign exchange ratesOur currency continues to strengthen against the Korean won. The won was valued at 817 against the New Zealand dollar on 18 March and climbed as high as 888 by 30 May. The New Zealand dollar strengthened against the US dollar even further during this period, with a 14% lift. While the season has finished, the high value of the dollar could affect any velvet that is left to sell.

$-

$2.00

$4.00

$6.00

$8.00

$10.00

$12.00

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

$/kg

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week

National Average Published Schedule. 55-60KG AP Stag

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

780

800

820

840

860

880

900

Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11

Kore

anw

on:1N

Z$

0.66

0.68

0.7

0.72

0.74

0.76

0.78

0.8

0.82

0.84

Mar-11 Apr-11 May-11

US$

:1N

Z$

KoreanwonversusNewZealanddollar:March–May2011.

USdollarversusNewZealanddollar:March–May2011.


MarketReport

Market economic conditionsIn May, Bank of Korea reported that Korea’s predicted economic growth for 2011 is 4.5%, but warns that inflation could be as high as 3.9%. The economic growth forecast this year is a continuation of the strong 6.2% GDP growth South Korea achieved in 2010, among the highest in the OECD. To help control inflation, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported a Korean government announcement on 3 May that it would drop tariffs on nine basic food items including chicken and dairy products. Velvet was not listed.

Chinese economic conditions are generally reported to be very positive with the World Bank forecasting China’s economic growth to be 9.3% for 2011 (down slightly from 10.3% in 2010). However Chinese authorities share a similar concern to Korea on inflation, with the Chinese government signalling a tightening of monetary policy to help curb rising prices.

Korean market accessWith the reported slow progress of free trade negotiations between Korea and New Zealand, Deer Industry New Zealand continues to seek alternative ways to reduce the Individual Consumption Tax (formally SET). The tax appears to be mainly paid on imported velvet and results in an additional 9.1% being added en route to market. Consumption tax was established to discourage “luxury goods”. DINZ argues that velvet is not a luxury good but rather an important health product, which should be more accessible by all Koreans. DINZ understands that from the original 250 items, only 23 still attract this excise tax.

Strengthening ties with ChinaExport statistics show a greater proportion of velvet exported to China in the earlier part of last season than in previous years. To the end of March 2011, the split between China and South Korea was even at 42% per country. Chinese interests are generally well capitalised, have an increasing level of processing investment in China, are rapidly becoming competent at processing and have sales opportunities in both South Korea an China. Chinese importers are therefore very competitive with their South Korean counterparts and are strengthening their ties with New Zealand. This presents both an opportunity and a risk for the New Zealand velvet industry.

Korean campaignA New Zealand velvet marketing company reported success at the International Seoul Food Exhibition. Its stand attracted around 2,000 visitors per day, resulting in 20 formal meetings daily and 11 potential distributors. The promotion included the booth, banner advertising, brochures, a promotional video and trade samples.

After the above success, the company is making plans to promote velvet at the World Small Animal Veterinary Association World Congress 2011, which will be held in Korea in mid October.

Australian market accessDeer Industry New Zealand has filed a formal complaint with the Australian Ombudsman regarding the length of

time it has taken for the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration to review New Zealand’s application to get velvet listed as an ingredient. DINZ will continue to pursue access to the Australian market for New Zealand deer velvet.

Local workA New Zealand marketer has achieved initial success with the support of DINZ by striking a deal with large pharmacy chain keen to distribute deer velvet in New Zealand. The velvet marketing company has also confirmed an agreement with a New Zealand animal health company which will promote velvet as a pet nutraceutical.

A new generic velvet industry promotional DVD has been completed and is being distributed in South Korea and China. In keeping with the Velvet Industry Strategic Intent, the DVD has been translated into Korean, Traditional Chinese (for Hong Kong), Simplified Chinese (for mainland China) and English.

ThepromotionalDVDisavailableinfourlanguages.


deer veterinarians’ conference

Deer veterinarians consider industry “utopia” About 70 deer veterinarians, scientists and industry guests gathered in Queenstown from 31 May – 2 June for Cervetec 2011, the annual conference of the New Zealand Veterinary Association Deer Branch. Deer Industry News Editor, Phil Stewart was there to report on the highlights of the latest from the front lines of deer health, where issues including internal parasites, reproductive wastage and Johne’s disease were picked apart.

Time and space prevent us from covering the entire conference in this issue, but we will begin this month with a summary of the opening day, in which industry leaders briefed veterinarians on their visions for “the deer industry’s utopia”. We will carry further reports on technical presentations in the August issue of Deer Industry News.

Andy Macfarlane, Chair, DINZ• Ourmostimportantmarkets–Germany,Korea,China

– are also the strongest performing in the wake of the global financial crisis.

• Long-termtrendsfavouragrowingdemandforanimalprotein and rising prices, but increased returns to farmers are not guaranteed.

• NewZealandhasunder-investedinscienceandeducation.

• DeerareagreatfitwiththeNewZealandbrandstory,leveraging our clean and natural attributes.

• Thegrossmarginofdeeroversheepandbeefisnarrowing, so the industry must work harder to maintain its advantage, especially around production in the high country.

Tony Pearse, Producer Manager, DINZ• Theindustryistargetingsteadygrowthinnational

herd size, a lift in carcass weights to 65kg and annual production back up to about 650,000 animals.

• Therewillbeabetterfitofspeciesandfarmingsystems across land and climate types.

• Ourqualityassuranceprogrammeswillbeintegrated,with animal health, nutrition and reproduction part of the mix.

• RecordingusingRFIDwillberoutineandUHFtechnology will eventually replace the low-frequency RFID tags being introduced with NAIT.

• Reducedstress,strategicfeedingofappropriatecrops,good environmental management and smarter use of water resources will feature in the years ahead.

• TheNZDFAwillincreaseitsfocusongoodgovernanceand put resources into developing tomorrow’s leaders.

Peter Gatley, Deer Improvement• Antlerhasbeenallowedtodominatedeergenetic

progress when it is venison that provides 80 percent of the industry’s income.

• Itisimportanttoavoidhavingtowinteravenisonanimal twice.

• Deerarea“blankcanvas”andgeneticscanbeusedtotailor animals to what the market requires (weaning

weights, carcass traits and so on).• Bykillingslaughteranimalsandsurplushindsatthe

schedule peak in spring, less feed will be consumed on maintenance and the decks will be cleared for the next crop of calves.

• Geneticdiversityisimportantforselectingonmultipletraits.

• TechnologieslikeEID,electronicweightdatarecordingand DNA parentage testing are viable on commercial farms now.

• ThegainsmadethroughDEERSelectwillbebetterleveraged by more effective extension – giving farmers practical information on how to improve performance.

Karl Buchanan, Venison Marketing Manager, Silver Fern Farms

• Afocusonvelvethascostthevenisonindustry.• A12-year-oldvelvetstagis“notthefinestredmeatin

the world”.• Meatcompaniesshouldbeabletorewardfarmersfor

desired carcass traits, but the flipside of this is that failure to achieve these will be punished.

• Procurementpressurescanunderminecompanies’ability to reward producers for carcass yields and so on.

• Incrementalimprovementsinproductivitywilladdconsiderable value to the venison trade (eg, a 5% increase in slaughter weight – about 2.7kg per animal, would yield 750 tonnes or about another $10m per year, and shifting 1% from the shoulders and flaps into legs and loins could add $20 per carcass. Together, these two gains would make a net improvement of $50 in value per carcass).

• Clostridium estertheticum, the bacterium responsible for “blown packs” is an ongoing risk to the venison industry. It is mainly a South Island problem, associated with wet, muddy conditions.

• Thespringcontract($9.50/kg)iswortha$110peranimal premium over the summer average of $7.40. Silver Fern Farms absorbed most of the sudden $1 drop in venison prices at the end of the peak season last year.

Andrew MacPherson, National Manager – Strategy and Performance, Landcorp

• LandcorpFarmingLtdrunsabout107,000deer,whichaccount for about 10 percent of its revenue.

• Velvetistreatedasabyproductonlyanddoesnotfeature in its breeding programme.

Deerveterinariansdiscussinganon-farmcasestudyduringthethree-dayconference.



• Theroleofwapitiinthebreedmixisunderreview.• DeersuitLandcorp’slandtypes.• Landcorpiscommittedtolong-termproductand

market development and is impressed with the Deer Progeny Test programme and the involvement of vets.

• Landcorpinvestsjustunder$1mayearindeerresearch. Priorities include seasonality, welfare, Johne’s disease, greenhouse gases and monitor farms.

• Vetshaveabigroleintheimplementationoftheproductivity strategy and animal health plans.

• MacPhersonchidedveterinariansfornottakingenough care with animal health product stewardship. They could do more to ensure expensive and high-tech vaccines and so on were properly handled and stored until they were administered on farm.

Adrian Campbell, VetLife: deer veterinarian’s perspective

• Manydeervetsarealsodeerfarmersandthushaveastrong involvement with the industry they serve.

• Vetsaremotivatedbybeingabletogiveclientswhatthey need, professional development, remuneration and other factors.

• Agoodfarmer–clientrelationshiprequiresengagementfrom the farmer and a vet’s ability to offer measurable value. For this to work, the client needs to be motivated by a burning ambition to do better.

Mandy Bell, Chair of DINZ Productivity Group: a farmer’s perspective

• Gettingasustainablebalanceinadeerbusinessalsoinvolves work–life balance.

• Weneedtolearnfromthedairyindustrybymakingmore use of analysis and measurement with standardised performance measures such as EBIT per hectare.

• Farmersneedtobeabletoidentifyreliablesourcesofinformation on animal health management – Johne’s disease, leptospirosis, parasites and so on.

• ConnectiontotheFarmIQprogrammehasthepotential to facilitate a major increase in farm-level performance. It could more than double per-hectare returns, while also channelling rewards back to the farmer in terms of processing efficiencies and phased returns from the markets.

• Keystosuccessincludedaccesstotechnology, a controlled approach to risk management, integrated relationships (breeder–finisher and so on), the right people (teachers, scientists, vets) and bridging the gap between the early adopters and those who follow.

• Bell’s“perfectpicture”fortheindustry involved quality stock, and improving environment, industry support for matters such as health and safety, good information for decision making, relationships with good people throughout the value chain, customers who appreciate the product and its authentic story and time to enjoy work, family and friends. “In 20 years we will be standing there as a sustainable land use option, alongside other sectors.”

Simon Guild: the safari industry• ManagedtrophyhuntinginNew

Zealand is worth $30–$40 million, about the same as velvet and coproducts, and could become the valuable “third leg to the deer farming stool”.

• Thereareabout20voluntarymembers of the New Zealand Association of Game Estates (NZAGE), and about 20 operators working outside the association.

• Theindustryneedstobeproperlyregulated to be sustainable. Standards should include safety, animal welfare and food safety.

• TheGameAnimalCouncilwillbetheappropriatevehicle for regulation and to enforce the standards that NZAGE has developed.

• GeneticsandtheinputofveterinarianshasmeantNew Zealand has bred some of the world’s best trophy animals.

• Thecapitalintensiveindustrywillcomeoutfromunder the radar as a respected part of the deer industry and there will be a move to fewer, bigger, better resourced game estates. There will be an accompanying attrition among the smaller operators outside the NZAGE sphere – the “bottom feeders”.

• Geneticprogressfortrophyhasreachedapointwherethe limits of animals’ physiological capacity to carry large heads is being reached – and people might realise that some of the large “cauliflower” heads being bred are just plain ugly.

• TrophyhuntingwillbelessdominatedbySCIscoresand more by the total hunting experience. “There will be fewer collectors and more hunters.”

• ClientswillcomelessfromtheUnitedStatesandmorefrom Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

• Moreanimalswillbebredontheproperties,withniches developing around hide colour, antler structure and so on.

Innes Moffat, Venison Marketing Services Manager, DINZ

• Utopiacouldincludeavenisonthatistoleranttoovercooking without losing its valuable health-giving properties (iron, low fat).

• Weneedtoensurethatwheneveraconsumerusesapart of a deer, their experience is excellent.

• Weneedtomanageandmeetconsumerexpectationsaround deer, through national standards on welfare, water quality, genetics and so on. DeerQA was a forerunner of these.

• Theindustryneedstorewardall participants with an adequate income. All of our income ultimately comes from the end user, so that is where we need to put our effort.

• Weshouldnotbestillgrowingthesameanimalsandproducing the same cuts in 10 years’ time. Making what we do today redundant will be a measure of our success.

MandyBell:Asustainableindustryandwork–lifebalancearepartofthemixfor“deerindustryutopia”.

SimonGuild:Calledforregulationandenforceablestandardswithinthegameestatesector.



Internal parasite diagnostic tests: How useful are they?An AgResearch Invermay trial led by Dr Colin Mackintosh has thrown more light on the accuracy of various tests for lungworm (LW) and gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes in young deer. Mackintosh presented his results at the Cervetec 2011 conference for deer veterinarians in Queenstown earlier this month.

The research showed that faecal egg counts (FEC) for GI parasites and faecal larval counts (FLC) for lungworm are fairly useful indicators of actual worm burdens up until the late autumn/early winter period. Going into spring, as the animals’ immunity starts to develop, the association between the egg or larval counts and worm burdens starts to break down.This reflects some of the findings of a trial carried out by the Elk and Wapiti Society of New Zealand. (See Deer Industry News, February 2011, page 29.)

Research designThe trial involved 100 moderately parasitised weaners, with equal numbers of hinds and stags, and reds and wapiti cross animals. They represented multiple sires and a broad genetic base. Until the trial started, none of the weaners had received any anthelmintic treatments.

There were seven trial groups of 12 animals each. Throughout the trial period they were regularly weighed and blood tested, with FEC and FLC recorded and saliva samples taken. Each month, one of the seven trial groups would be slaughtered and detailed worm counts done for GI and LW parasites. The trial groups were not routinely given any anthelmintic treatment, but individual trial animals were given “trigger” treatments if they showed excessive signs of parasitism (high FEC/FLC, scouring, poor weight gain and so on).

The control group of 12 was given regular treatments with oxfendazole every 2–3 weeks throughout the trial period. At the end of June there was a spike in lungworm and all animals, including the trial groups, were given a double-dose of oxfendazole to bring levels under control.

CARLA, a new saliva test developed for sheep that shows the amount of antibody produced by the animal to GI parasites, was used. Serum ELISA tests for GI and LW parasites were carried out, along with the routine FEC and FLC monitoring.

ResultsBecause of the dry autumn conditions at the start of the trial last year, animal growth rates were flat until the grass came away later.

Overall, the liveweights of the untreated trial animals lagged 10 percent behind those of the treated controls.

The wapiti cross animals were noticeably more affected by parasitism than the reds. For example, among the untreated trial animals by the end of May, 20 out of 42 wapiti cross animals required trigger treatments while only seven out of 42 reds needed it.

During the autumn and early winter, the FEC and FLC results gave a good indication of actual parasite burdens.

After winter, the faecal egg and larvae counts were unreliable as an indicator of actual burdens.

The ELISA tests, which measure levels of antibody to internal parasites in the blood serum, were a more accurate indicator of the amount of parasite challenge rather than actual burdens. Mackintosh told veterinarians that ELISA titres rose before worm burdens did and remained elevated for a time after the burdens fell away.

He added that ELISA results might still be useful in detecting resistance to internal parasites and more work was needed to tease out this data.

One interesting finding during the counts of parasites in slaughtered animals was a relatively high number of hypobiotic larvae (parasites with arrested development). Mackintosh said it was unclear whether these caused disease but the animals appeared to be coping with them.

Results using the CARLA saliva test showed a good relationship between antibody levels and parasite burdens, although the wapiti cross animals produced significantly less antibody than the reds.

ConclusionsAll animals in the trial faced a significant worm challenge, including the treated controls.

FEC and FLC appear to give a good indication of actual worm burdens in autumn and early winter, but not from spring, when false negative readings start to appear and the animals start to establish resistance.

Other factors, such as pasture condition and drench history should be taken into consideration along with FEC/FLC results.

The CARLA test might be able to be used to indicate levels of resistance to GI parasites in deer. The lower levels of antibody produced by the wapiti in the CARLA test might indicate they are less resistant to parasites than the reds, although this is only an association at this stage.

ColinMackintosh:Eggandlarvacountsareusefulindicatorsofparasiteburdensinautumnandearlywinteronly.


general news

Animal Health roundup: Manawatu ■ by Hamish Pike, Totally Vets, Feilding

It is fair to say that autumn pasture growth rates have been a god-send and Manawatu is on the road to recovery. Hill country farmers have reported record pasture growth rates, which have been attributed to the extended warm autumn, particularly in May.

Over spring and summer, the extended dry spell forced deer farmers to provide supplementary feeding in one form or another. Porina caterpillar had devastating effects on the northern hill country farms with some losing 20–40 percent of their pasture grazing area. Grass grub also caused major damage on these farms and is still a problem at the time of writing in late May.

Many farmers were able to utilise turnip or brassica-type crops in the late spring–summer dry period. Others resorted to maize, silage, or trough-fed palm kernel as a cheaper alternative.

Yearling and mixed age hinds were in good condition coming out of the rut, so it appears that mating has gone well. However, many hinds were previously culled on low mouths and poor condition. Stags have also come out of mating in better than usual condition.

The decision to wean early or late is always a topic of debate. Although early weaning is more common, some farmers are opting to wean much later as there is a feeling that fawns are surviving better on their mothers over the cold winter period. From their own experiences, weaning earlier would only increase deaths from yersiniosis and lungworm. Turnips or maize, for example, will be fed to the hinds over the winter.

However, there is a risk in terms of fertility to the later-weaned hinds next autumn if winter conditions change or we have a repeat of last spring and summer. Hind body condition can be difficult to maintain over the winter in the northern Manawatu around Kimbolton–Apiti–Rangiwahia.

Farmers will see pregnancy testing as an opportunity to cull empty and late-fawning hinds. Totally Vets Limited is recommending scanning the hinds between 30 days after the stags were pulled out and 120 days after the stag went in which is about a three-week window for most herds.

Hinds can be body condition scored around this time (if not at weaning) so that the lighter conditioned hinds can be pulled out for priority feeding. Conversely, over-fat hinds should be given maintenance ration (grazing to residuals of 600kg DM or 3cm sward height on good quality pasture) before the spring feed comes away. This is important in order to prevent fawning trouble – particularly important in the first fawners. Over-fatness is generally not a problem

in the higher altitude areas, but this year has certainly surprised us in terms of current hind body condition and the autumn pasture surplus.

Weaners appeared to be lighter than in previous years as a result of lower quality and quantity of feed and perhaps lower milk yields in the hinds over early lactation in the

summer. Subclinical facial eczema and ryegrass staggers may have also contributed to the lower growth rates over late summer and early autumn.

From now on, it is important that weaners get the highest quality and quantity of feed. It is recommended that pasture covers should be kept above 1,600kg DM/ha or 10cm sward height for optimal weaner growth rates. This can really only be achieved by feeding weaners on a fast rotation and always preferentially fed. If swards are grazed at 6–8cm height, only 60 percent of potential growth can be achieved, while grazing down

to 3cm will result in nil weight gains. Where these pasture covers are not achievable, feeding green feed crops or supplementing with maize is common over the winter.

To date, there have been very few reports of sudden deaths or other health problems in deer. The major health issues this coming winter will include the usual suspects – yersiniosis, lungworm and leptospirosis. Reduced growth rate is a problem in weaners suffering from subclinical parasitism, especially lungworm. Like cattle, gastrointestinal parasitism (type 2 Ostertagiasis-like syndrome) can also be a problem, particularly in the wapiti, in early spring coming out of a cold winter.

Johne’s disease in this region tends to be more of a sporadic occurrence in mixed age deer. Outbreaks in young deer are rare and often confused with parasitism and yersiniosis.

Low liver copper levels have been a feature this autumn. Sway back in the hinds is a potential issue if this problem is not addressed well before fawning.

In conclusion, most Manawatu deer farmers are well prepared for this winter. Good pasture covers both in terms of quality and quantity, have given them options with respect to weaning and grazing and feed management. This bodes well for a productive season.

HamishPike:Deerhavecomeoutoftherutingoodconditionandfarmsarewellsetupforwinter.


general news

Young manager thriving on award-winning propertyRodway Park Stud, at Ngakuru, has won two Ballance Farm Environment Awards for habitat enhancement and nutrient management.

The awards are made annually to farmers who demonstrate that profitability need not compromise environmental values and that the environment can be both restored and enhanced under profitable farming systems.

Rodway Park’s Manager, Barry Hogg, says that over the past seven years the farm’s owners have been working steadily towards developing an operation that is both sustainable and environmentally attractive. They aim at achieving greater sustainability through breeding stags that grow larger velvet heads, meaning increased production from fewer animals.

The habitat enhancement award was for wetlands management. Barry explains, “Four years ago the place had a real sedimentation and erosion problem. It was a mess every time stock were driven along a boggy stream that runs through the property. The solution was to fence off an area of 2.5 hectares so the deer could not access it any more, and create a series of eight stepped wetlands, fed by the waterway’s two springs, that now cascade down through the valley.”

This was followed by planting a lot of natives – mainly pittosporums and flax – plus a few exotic trees such as oaks and blackwoods. This completely settled the erosion and sedimentation problem and also created a beautiful landscape, he said.

“As we are on the volcanic plateau we have quite young soil, and the topsoil is rather thin in places. Also, there’s not a lot of flat land – only about 22 out of 150 hectares. This means erosion is something we really have to watch.”

The result is also a wonderful habitat for waterfowl and other birdlife, Barry says. “Fish & Game became involved and assisted in the design of some small islands and other nesting habitat for shoveller duck and black teal. Other native birds like tui have become more abundant too. More recently we have also introduced a trapping programme for wild cats and ferrets.

“The stream drains into Lake Ohakuri, part of the Waikato River system, where water quality is a big environmental issue, so we’re really pleased to be able to do something to help that. Our improved wetland has also received a bit of publicity as a benchmark and we’ve hosted some field days in association with Environment Waikato, to demonstrate what can be done and how.”

Perhaps ironically, they received the Ballance Nutrient Management Award for not using fertiliser. Barry explains, “Following the 2008 drought, Andy and Rachael used the Overseer™ computer program to evaluate nutrient input needs on the farm. Having brought in a quarter of a million dollars worth of feed during the drought, they were not surprised that they did not need to put on fertiliser. Overseer takes into account everything from feed to fertiliser and allows for all the factors like stocking rates, pH, soil type and leaching.

The Ballance judges cited “knowledge of soil nutrient requirements and ability to question perceived recommendations” as a reason for making the award. Barry said it was remarkable and praiseworthy that a fertiliser company should be far-sighted enough to make an award for actually using less of their product. “It shows a real commitment to sustainability rather than short-term benefits.

“Mind you, what works here doesn’t necessarily apply down the road as well. We’re mainly a velvet stud operation, which is quite different from a high-intensity meat or velvet production unit. We are trying to make more money with fewer deer, which has all sorts of benefits including a smaller environmental footprint, not pushing the hills so hard and less damage from fenceline pacing. Plus of course it’s a bit less work.”

He says that on hilly land it is important to keep a close eye on the younger animals and remove them to flatter country if they started cutting up the ground, or keep them on the hills only for short periods. “I’m a great believer in short rotations.

“Despite there being no need for fertiliser at present, we are very aware that things change and the soil fertility situation could change. That’s why we are continually monitoring the soil. Every year in late winter we sample eight representative paddocks and soil profiles have been mapped all over the farm. This gives us the clearest possible picture of what’s going on. It’s all about trying to anticipate needs, rather than waiting until production declines and then trying to fix it.”

Working with Overseer, fertiliser at the appropriate rate has been used for cropping rape, plantain and chicory for winter feed. “Usually we keep the crop in for a year and graze it on four cycles during that time before reverting it back to pasture. The trick with fertiliser use here is getting the application rate and timing both right.”

The judges also remarked on the “healthy climate of management interaction that exists between everyone at Rodway Park”. Barry says it was great working for owners who were like-minded, concerned for the environment and had just the right balance of being interested in the farm and the wetlands projects, while also letting him get on with the job. “When I told them I wanted to start a trapping programme they couldn’t have been more supportive.”

Meanwhile, plans for further environmental enhancement are well underway. New double fencing is being developed, with more plantings of flax and trees to create better shelter and habitat and another stream is being transformed into a second wetland. Barry expects that eventually about 13 hectares will be used in this fashion, leaving around 135 hectares of productive land.

Rodway Park was originally established in 1998 in Gladstone, Wairarapa. In 2003, Rodway Park Ltd was formed and a move made to the present site. At this time


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Rachael and Andy Mitchell amalgamated Maurice and Anne O’Reilly’s Kaimai Red Deer Stud into the business. The combined operation is now owned by the Mitchells and the O’Reillys, and specialises in velvet sires. Present top sires in the operation include Aslan, Wessex, Seneca and Bruce Almighty (brought in from Unfehlbar, Peel Forest and Gloriavale respectively), and two animals bred on site, Xcell and Marric. The farm also has a small velvet production herd. The last stag sale, in January, went very well, with a number of new as well as established clients, and good stock clearance at what Barry describes as “realistic commercial prices”.

Barry admits to having a passion for deer, having been brought up on a deer farm and having a farm of his own which he sold before moving to Rodway nine months ago. He also runs a guiding operation and has recently become Chair of the Rotorua Branch of NZDFA.

Recently married to his partner Maree, at age 31 he is one of the younger deer farmers around and is upbeat about the future of the business: “It’s often said that deer farming is dominated by older people and that that’s a problem for the future. But as they get older, it creates new opportunities for younger people to become farm managers or to buy them out. I’ve grown up with the industry and been through a lot of its ups and downs. I’m still enthusiastic and optimistic about it and wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

Deer yards razed at Peel ForestAn electrical surge is thought to have sparked the fire that destroyed a set of deer yards at Peel Forest Estate, causing about $250,000 worth of damage. The fire, on 16 April, broke out not long after midnight and although the Fire Service was there within 10 minutes, it was too well advanced for them to save the buildings or contents.

Peel Forest owner Graham Carr says the yards were build in 1988 and had been modified several times over the years.

It was not only the building that was lost. Two walk-in freezers with a combined capacity of 1.5 tonnes were destroyed, along with a purpose-built crush, hydraulic drafting system and two scale heads. Fortunately the freezers were empty – Carr does not usually insure stored velvet – and the latest data from the scale heads had been downloaded.

He is philosophical about the loss. The yards were insured, although the cap was probably too low. “We’ve recently upgraded yards on another property so we have alternatives available until these are rebuilt,” he says.

That said, he’s keen to have new yards in place in time for the next velvetting season. “We’ll be taking the opportunity to set up a state-of-the-art set of yards which will be fitted out with the latest electronic equipment to fully utilise the benefits of the electronic tag system – not just for identifying superior growth rates, but also for superior yielding genetics. One other very important benefit from all this extra easy accessible data will be to benefit Peel Forest Estate’s programme identifying Johne’s-resilient genetics and bloodlines. We are studying what new ideas are out there and will design something that will set us up for the future.”

Carr is aware that he might need to get cracking on the redesign and rebuild, before the reconstruction work in Christchurch starts to pick up pace and there is a shortage of tradespeople.

And taking other lessons from the February earthquake, he’ll be paying special attention to matters such as scope of insurance cover, protection of electronic data and the wisdom of not insuring the velvet.

BarryHogg(centre)withwifeMaree,andMarie’schildrenTaylor(right)andTuscany(left).Thenativetreesarenowbecomingwellestablishedaroundthedevelopedwetland.

GrahamCarr:Firehaspresentedanopportunitytoinstallstate-of-theartdeerhandlingfacilitiesatPeelForest.

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