3. Deer Farming

Table B7: istributio f er properties i outhland 3. Deer rming FMU Total re ha) Number f Properties Average are ha) Authors: Lindsay Fung Environmental Policy Manager), Ton Pearse Producer anager), Deer Specialist eer Total 15,311 170 90 Industry New ealand. atāura ,928 32 123 Deer farming is generally located on the outhland Plains or the high country areas in northern and Ōreti ,359 71 75 western outhland, as shown in Figure B17. There is a concentration of large farms in the e nau Aparima ,637 15 109 Basin and a large number of secialist deer roerties occur in and around the nvercargill area s Waiau ,365 50 87 deer farming is based on the annual roduction of meat and other animal roducts it shares man Fiordland & slands 22 2 11 similarities ith sheep and beef farming. deer farm is usuall run as either a specialised deer farm Mixed eer Total 31,385 38 826 or as a art of a mixed drystock farm Deer have different seasonal feed reuirements to shee and beef and the three stock types are often seen as complementary, desite the investment needed for Matāura ,890 9 ,210 deer fencing. Ōreti ,695 14 621 Aparima ,098 4 275 Waiau ,702 11 973 Mixed heep, eef & eer Total 223,277 248 900 Matāura ,145 71 1622 Ōreti ,789 86 335 Aparima ,905 28 747 Waiau ,437 63 928 Total for outhland 269,973 456 592 Source: Pearson and Couldrey 2016) Over recent ears, an increasing number of large shee and beef farms in outhland have included deer in their farming mix. Most deer farms estimated to be over 0%) are now mied drystock oerations – typically with shee andor beef cattle, but dairy grazing and croping are also seen Mixed drystock operations have expanded farmers’ options for sustained rofitability in red meat suly and are an alternative to traditional drystock farming. Deer farms reviously tended to be focused on either breeding or finishing, but more recently there has been a shift towards both oerations on the same farm. 3.1. History Deer Farming n Southland Deer farming is a relatively new industry, compared to other astoral land uses41 Internationally, Southland is the ioneer region for large-scale commercial deer farming. Southland’s deer industry currently has the second largest herd in New Zealand, and it is considered the most advanced, Figure B17: eer arming outhla 015 through the suly of high uality genetics, animal secialist suort services, stock transortation Source: Pearson and Couldrey 2016) and rocessing. Overall, the New Zealand deer industry is the largest and most advanced of its kind in the orld In total, deer farming covers around 70,000 hectares of land over 56 roerties. Following advice from eer ndustry New Zealand DINZ), deer properties were categorised for the outhland Land Use Ma as: specialist deer 100% deer), mied deer >45% deer), mied shee, beef and deer <45% deer) able B7 shows the distribution of deer roerties in outhland b freshwater management unit FMU) using these categories (for more information on MUs refer to Part : Section .4). 41 Before the 1970s deer ere raised on aristocratic estates in Euroe for hunting, or housed in small enclosures in sia for velvet roduction 88 89 Table B7: istributio f er properties i outhland 3. Deer rming FMU Total re ha) Number f Properties Average are ha) Authors: Lindsay Fung Environmental Policy Manager), Ton Pearse Producer anager), Deer Specialist eer Total 15,311 170 90 Industry New ealand. atāura ,928 32 123 Deer farming is generally located on the outhland Plains or the high country areas in northern and Ōreti ,359 71 75 western outhland, as shown in Figure B17. There is a concentration of large farms in the e nau Aparima ,637 15 109 Basin and a large number of secialist deer roerties occur in and around the nvercargill area s Waiau ,365 50 87 deer farming is based on the annual roduction of meat and other animal roducts it shares man Fiordland & slands 22 2 11 similarities ith sheep and beef farming. deer farm is usuall run as either a specialised deer farm Mixed eer Total 31,385 38 826 or as a art of a mixed drystock farm Deer have different seasonal feed reuirements to shee and beef and the three stock types are often seen as complementary, desite the investment needed for Matāura ,890 9 ,210 deer fencing. Ōreti ,695 14 621 Aparima ,098 4 275 Waiau ,702 11 973 Mixed heep, eef & eer Total 223,277 248 900 Matāura ,145 71 1622 Ōreti ,789 86 335 Aparima ,905 28 747 Waiau ,437 63 928 Total for outhland 269,973 456 592 Source: Pearson and Couldrey 2016) Over recent ears, an increasing number of large shee and beef farms in outhland have included deer in their farming mix. Most deer farms estimated to be over 0%) are now mied drystock oerations – typically with shee andor beef cattle, but dairy grazing and croping are also seen Mixed drystock operations have expanded farmers’ options for sustained rofitability in red meat suly and are an alternative to traditional drystock farming. Deer farms reviously tended to be focused on either breeding or finishing, but more recently there has been a shift towards both oerations on the same farm. 3.1. History Deer Farming n Southland Deer farming is a relatively new industry, compared to other astoral land uses41 Internationally, Southland is the ioneer region for large-scale commercial deer farming. Southland’s deer industry currently has the second largest herd in New Zealand, and it is considered the most advanced, Figure B17: eer arming outhla 015 through the suly of high uality genetics, animal secialist suort services, stock transortation Source: Pearson and Couldrey 2016) and rocessing. Overall, the New Zealand deer industry is the largest and most advanced of its kind in the orld In total, deer farming covers around 70,000 hectares of land over 56 roerties. Following advice from eer ndustry New Zealand DINZ), deer properties were categorised for the outhland Land Use Ma as: specialist deer 100% deer), mied deer >45% deer), mied shee, beef and deer <45% deer) able B7 shows the distribution of deer roerties in outhland b freshwater management unit FMU) using these categories (for more information on MUs refer to Part : Section .4). 41 Before the 1970s deer ere raised on aristocratic estates in Euroe for hunting, or housed in small enclosures in sia for velvet roduction 88 89 The irst er arming icence as ssue outhla 970, a he ew ealand Dee armers The main deer species farmed in New Zealand are red deer, but over time other arieties and other Associatio as et 1975. Th nitial nterest n eer farming was accentuate by a bundant species e.g. wapiti and astern red deer) have been crossbred and are also farmed42. In Southland, supply of vailable tock, hroug il er apture, establishe ild eniso ecovery a access to nearby wapiti in Fiordland, has led to their crossbreeding with red deer. processing ndustry. The Southland deer industry is second only to Canterbury as the most important region for elvet production, both for volume and quality. 3.2. Farm Classes Deer farms are usually classified in terms of production and they are a mix of enison, elvet, andor trophy antler production systems. Although most farms are self-contained breeding and finishing units, there are also specialist operations concentrating on either breeding or finishing. The different mi of age classes in each production system presents different enironmental risks on- farm because of the size and seasonal, se or age-related behaviours of the deer (refer to art : Section .9). The main characteristics of these production systems are as follows Venison: nimals are typically slaughtered at 12-18 months of age. There will be a capital stock breeding herd of hinds, and a smaller group of selected breeding stags older animals), which are used to provide animals for either slaughter or replacement. Velvet: The focus is on stags that produce heavy antlers with a good configuration – stags are retained for many years as the antler weight grown each year increases with age43. There will be a selected breeding herd of hinds. Young female deer not needed for breeding and young males not being kept for elvet production, are either on-sold to other farms or processed for enison. Older breeding hinds and elvet stags are also culled for enison. Stud: The focus is on establishing breeding lines of high genetic alue for elvet predominantly), venison or trophy antler markets. The progeny (offspring) of stags is sold to production farms or breeders, usually at 2-3 years of age for elite males, or at -20 months of age for elite females. Image B4 Velvet tag i the Matāura FMU Source: outhla Deer armers Association Velvet and enison production also occur on the same farm. Across the country, the deer industry’s main focus is on venison production roughly 80-85% of deer Sinc the New Zealand deer industry’s peak in , with 5,2 armers nd . million eer, i ad farms), and it is likely that a similar distribution is found in Southland. Table 8 outlines a deer contracted nationally by 15 to 100 farmers nd 0,00 deer. I outhland, the deer industry s production calendar that describes the main deer stock class activities and production systems more entrenched than in other regions, and is influenced by Landcorp Farming Ltd.’s large deer throughout a year. It highlights the peak season for chilled enison from September to November holdings he e na asin.

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