NZ Deer Farmers celebrate 50 years

When the NZ Deer Farmers Association (NZDFA) was established in 1975, a farmer wanting to farm deer was required to obtain a deer-farming licence.

After the roaring ‘cowboys in the sky’ days of the early seventies when wild capture of red deer for farming saw a new industry born with favourable returns, Sir Peter Elworthy called the inaugural meeting to establish a farmer-led association.

“By making the right decisions now, then so can our young deer-farming industry to avoid the production processing and marketing problems of our traditional meat industry,” wrote
Sir Peter in his president’s address to the first annual meeting in Wellington.

Fifty years on, the debate was hot at the annual Deer Industry New Zealand conference, celebrating the milestone on the woes of recent poor returns for venison and velvet and the focus still very much on how to avoid those same problems.

The scene was set for the golden anniversary in Queenstown in May 2025 as many retrospective memories were shared at the milestone event, with reflections on how very different the times were from when the tourist mecca played host to the event in 1985.

The gold trimmings of 1985 were on display as more than 900 people were caught up in the hype of deer farming and lured by generous tax breaks as the corporate businessmen, or ‘Queen Street farmers’, and politicians all rubbed shoulders with local deer farmers and pilots. It was this moment that helped fast-track development of the industry.

In 1985, everyone was riding high on the first decade of success and was in the mood to celebrate. The organising committee didn’t disappoint.

Led by local deer farmer Rob Brookes, the group booked out three floors of a downtown hotel. He spared no expense, with the financial outcome of the conference never revealed because Brookes underwrote it all. The 1985 conference and post-conference activities, which included a couple of deer sales and an optional flight to Invermay to check in on deer-related research, was spread over five days.

Brookes made the impossible happen, such as bringing the TSS Earnslaw out of dry dock for split sailings to and from Kingston for a figure that would have been eye-watering still in today’s terms.

The banquet-style conference dinner featured bathtubs full of expensive booze and tables of platters piled high with crayfish, 1,300 dozen oysters and (of course) venison. Ironically it was months prior to Sir Robert Muldoon’s infamous removal of farming subsidies which turned the tide on farming altogether in New Zealand.

The State of the Industry report spoke to the past year of poor velvet prices due to a change of Chinese import regulations and rogue traders exploiting the situation with misinformation and scare-mongering. The conference held the forum for the proposal of an export licensing model for velvet. Other speakers included Millie Morgan and economist Brad Olsen, following their recent trip to Korea as a positive emerging market, updates on Deer Select 2, the North American Retail Accelerator’s success and keynote from outdoor adventurer Kevin Biggar.

NZ Deer Farmers Association 2025 Chair Mark McCoard said, “It was a wonderful celebration and a reflection of the NZDFA’s contribution to the deer industry we have today.”

The awards evening celebrated farmers for their continued commitment to deer farming with Dave Morgan of Raincliff Station winning the Elworthy Environmental Award, Laura Billings winning the NZDFA Matuschka Award and Peel Forest Estate owner Graham Carr winning the NZ Deer Industry Award for a person who has made the most outstanding contribution to the New Zealand deer industry over a period of years.

There were also four NZDFA life memberships awarded to:

• Hub Hall – Waikato branch, lives in Hamilton
• Ian Bristow – Kaipara branch, lives in Helensville
• Bill Taylor – Southland branch, lives in Winton
• Edmund Noonan – Canterbury West Coast, lives in Christchurch.