Opportunity in the dearer deer

Who has the daily chore of deciding what’s for dinner in your household? My partner and I have frequent verbal tussles about who’s getting the meat out, so it has time to defrost.

Last week I was fossicking around in the freezer in search of something inspiring. I love a spicy beef curry or a tasty slow-cooked Moroccan lamb stew with chickpeas.

Our freezer is usually full of frozen vegetables, bacon, chicken thighs, steak or beef mince. Lasagne is my favourite dish, especially on a chilly winter’s night.

But the other day meat in a fancy vacuum-packed bag emblazoned with bold red writing caught my eye. It was venison mince. There were several packets of it.

I immediately wondered how it got there. I didn’t buy it. Perhaps my partner did. Or perhaps one of Santa’s reindeer was naughty, and he dropped it off when he was in the neighbourhood recently. Who knows. Anyway, I was intrigued.

The writing on the packet said the meat was ‘‘naturally lean, healthy and delicious’’. ‘Tick’, I thought to myself. It went on to say venison was ‘‘a versatile option with a subtle yet distinctive taste’’. I screwed up my nose. Was ‘‘distinctive taste’’ a marketing guru’s way of saying some people might not like it?

I flipped the packet over and there was a recipe on the back for venison mini kebabs with tzatziki sauce. The accompanying photo made my taste buds tingle. So, I grabbed a couple of packets with full knowledge that my culinary skills meant it would end up on my dinner plate as something far less enticing.

The discovery made me curious about the state of the country’s deer industry.

Apparently, the number of deer in New Zealand is declining. There were about 1.5 million head in

2002. But last year the population fell to under one million, according to the NZ Farmer.

The great financial crisis and conversion of farms to dairy contributed to the reduction. The fall in the number of deer being processed, coupled with the popularity of the paleo diet, has pushed venison prices to record highs. The Taranaki Daily News reported prices hit an all-time June high of $9 a kilogram, carcase weight, for quality stags.

Prices have continued to soar. According to Agrifax, the national average published schedule was recorded as $10.20 a kilogram at the end of November. That was up

29 per cent on the same period in

2016 and is up 33 per cent on the three-year average.

About 291,000 deer were killed in 2016/17, down 8.5 per cent year on year. In its October/November edition Deer Industry News reported venison exports to the United States ‘‘lifted by more than

30 per cent’’ to 3,437 tonnes in the year to August 2017. The United States accounted for 28 per cent of total volume. The value of exports to that country rose to $38.4 million.

But here’s the interesting fact; while the USA buys the biggest volume, New Zealand earns more from sales to Germany. In the same period, Germany received

2,570 tonnes of venison, worth around $40.8 million, which was down two per cent year on year. Even with the slight dip, Germany remains New Zealand’s most valuable export market. Innes Moffat from Deer Industry New Zealand told the publication that exporters are benefitting from ‘‘an increased demand for grass-fed meat’’.

While a lot of New Zealanders spent last month camping, or sprawled out on a sandy beach, deer breeders started holding their

It reported that a three-year-old stag in Canterbury sold for $95,000.

annual sales. Confidence in the industry has been reflected in buoyant prices. Sales of deer sire stags have spiked, with some stud farms reporting average prices up to 50 per cent above last year, according to the NZ Farmer.

It reported that a three-year-old stag in Canterbury sold for $95,000 – and yes, I have put the comma in the correct place. There are signs farmers are rebuilding their herds, with some increasing the area they have fenced for deer, according to Deer Industry New Zealand.

It’s also receiving requests for information from new players entering the industry. Traditionally, venison prices peak in October, before the last chilled shipments leave for Europe for the annual game meat season. But this season they have continued to rise, with the average now around a record $10.30 a kilogram.

Velvet prices are also strong, with exports rising to $59 million in 2016/17. You’re probably wondering how my dinner turned out. I made venison rissoles, served with a crisp salad from our garden. They were delicious.

Brad has taken up a new opportunity with NZ Young Farmers. This is his final column for Stuff.