Diane Bishop introduces John Somerville, the new voice for New Zealand deer farmers.
Pine Bush farmer John Somerville is the new voice for New Zealand deer farmers. Diane Bishop reports.
The deer industry is riding the crest of a wave.
And nobody is more excited about the future of the industry than third generation farmer John Somerville.
As the new chairman of the New Zealand Deer Farmers Association (NZDFA) he’s enjoying buoyant returns for both velvet and venison.
‘’It’s absolutely profitable to be a deer farmer.
‘’It’s right up there and better than a lot of other land use options,’’ Somerville said.
Velvet production is the main focus of his and wife Mel’s 170 hectare farming operation at Pine Bush.
They farm 300 English-cross Red hinds, 270 velveting stags and 230 fawns as part of their Arawata stud along with 530 Romney-cross ewes.
Somerville has been involved in the deer industry since his late father Walter became disillusioned with sheep farming in the late 1970s.
‘’As a hunter Dad had always been keen on deer.
‘’He came to dislike sheep because of the constant meat workers strikes – the industry was not looking rosy.’’
Walter named the deer stud Arawata after an area in South Westland where he enjoyed hunting deer and thar.
‘’He was among the second wave of deer farmers to get into the industry.
‘’He really liked the antler side of it and producing those great heads.’’
The original genetic base of the herd was imported from the United Kingdom and Germany.
Somerville farmed in partnership with Walter until 2004 when he started farming the property in his own right.
His main aim is to produce high yielding velveting stags with good even tynes – a trait he describes as highly heritable.
‘’It’s one of the most passable traits in deer. We are able to breed from the best animals and cull the undesirable ones.’’
With a strong emphasis on genetics and good feeding Somerville has been able to more than double his velvet weights over the past 20 years.
‘’My four-year-olds and older are averaging more than 7kg of velvet.
‘’Go back 20 years and they were only averaging 3 to 3.5kg – we’ve seen some huge lifts.’’
Somerville’s two-year-old stags are required to cut at least 4kg of velvet to remain in the herd.
‘’In theory they should be producing a kilogram more of velvet a year, although some animals will produce more and some will produce less.’’
In 2001 the Arawata stud was the first in New Zealand to produce a two-year-old stag that cut over 5kg of velvet.
Somerville said it was a great time to be involved in the deer industry with both velvet and venison producers enjoying high prices.
Returns for velvet have been stable for the past six or so years and the outlook was promising.
‘’The deer industry is not as volatile as people believe – there’s been more ups and downs in the dairy industry. When we’re looking at land use options, deer farming is quite competitive.’’
The velvet price was currently about $125 per kilogram net across all grades with the main export markets being South Korea and China.
While velvet was used mainly in traditional medicine the healthy food sector was becoming an increasingly important market.
‘‘About a quarter of New Zealand’s velvet is going into healthy food markets in South Korea.’’
Somerville believed the competitive tension between markets in China and South Korea had helped stabilise prices.
Somerville produces about 1.8 tonne of velvet each year on his Pine Bush property.
Velveting of the older stags starts in October and continues into the New Year with the younger stags.
‘’Velvet weight is important, but style is too to achieve ultimate potential.’’
That potential was realised at his on-farm stag sale in January this year when he sold a velvet sire for $46,000.
‘’That was one of the best prices we’ve ever had.
‘’I was quite rapt because you never know which way an auction is going to go.’’
Along with about 20 sire stags Somerville also sells about 25 velveting stags and 30 surplus breeding hinds at his sale which has become a highlight on his farming calendar.
Somerville has held an onfarm auction since the early 1990s.
He also operates an extensive AI programme that is producing sire stags that are generating good results for his long-term clients.
He enjoys attending other deer sales around the country and introducing new bloodlines into his Arawata stud.
Breeding deer with good growth rates and temperament is also a major focus.
‘’Quieter animals certainly do better and they put more weight on.’’
Somerville described his deer as having individual personalities and being very curious.
‘’All deer are different even though people think they are the same.’’
Venison production is a smaller focus for Somerville who sends his cull stock to the freezing works while a few trophy stags are grown out to around eight years of age.
With venison prices around $11 per kilogram it was also a lucrative market.
The United States was now the largest market for chilled venison with reliance having moved away from the German market.
While venison had been promoted and sold as a luxury meat into high-end markets, new markets were emerging for secondary cuts.
‘’Venison is now going into pet food as an additive and that’s helping drive the price up – it’s about looking at the whole carcass.’’
Somerville, who was elected chairman of the NZDFA at its annual conference in Timaru in May, has been on the national executive for the past six years.
One of the biggest issues facing deer farming was its impact on the environment.
Somerville has fenced off most of the waterways on his Pine Bush property and carried out significant plantings.
‘’The environmental issues we face are huge – it’s about being proactive.’’
The aim of the NZDFA and Deer Industry New Zealand was for all deer farmers to adopt a Land Environmental Plan by 2020.
‘’It’s an ambitious target but I think it’s achievable.’’
‘’Deer farmers are taking the environment seriously and some have been doing work for a long time fencing off areas.’’
However, he acknowledged there were a lot of deer being farmed on hill country where it was difficult or impossible to fence off streams.
‘’Sometimes it’s just not practical or physically possible, but we still need to find solutions to improve water quality.’’
Somerville said good returns had led to growth in the industry with the retention of hinds and a reduced national kill.
In the early 2000s the national kill had peaked at 700,000 but was now sitting at about 300,000.
‘’Established deer farms are getting bigger, but there’s a lot of deer fencing around without deer.
‘’I hope we will see more deer again on these farms.’’