Business Rural Autumn 2021

66 | The size of the herd at Top Deck Deer means a large base of fallow bucks to choose from – a ‘one stop shop’ says owner Tony Roberts. DEER: » Top Deck Deer: Tony & Michelle Roberts Stag wintering barn part of on-farm investment in deer • from page 65 “We are farming on rolling hill country so we wanted to get away from wintering deer out in the paddock on crop. A dry warm controlled indoor environment will be better for the deer and mean we can leave more paddocks in grass and carry more stock. There is also a cost to growing crop and not knowing how it will turn out. Over a ten year period the barn will pay for itself so it makes sense.” Fence Posts - Shed Poles - Structural Timber - Weather Board Timber Profiles - Landscaping Quality and Service Guaranteed P 03 204 8221 F 03 204 8207 E sales@stuarttimber.co.nz www.stuarttimber.co.nz CHALLENGING YOUR STATUS QUO Top Deck Deer offers trophy deer businesses all four colour phases – white, ginger, spotty and black – from the same genetic line giving their clients more choice. The size of the herd compared with other South Island breeders means a large base of fallow bucks to choose from resulting in a one- stop-shop, says Tony. The stud is also now selling breeding bucks for people that want to buy a new sire breeding buck for use over their does. The Roberts have chosen to go against the flow and invest significantly in their deer farming opera- tion despite the curveballs thrown by Covid-19. They are in the process of building a new wintering barn with capacity for 300 stags to complement a wool shed they converted into a wintering shed for hinds last year with room for 150 deer. This year they will also put a proper feeding rack in the hind shed so that Tony can drive up and feed out from the exterior rather than having to drive inside. “We are farming on rolling hill country so we wanted to get away from wintering deer out in the paddock on crop. A dry warm controlled indoor en- vironment will be better for the deer and mean we can leave more paddocks in grass and carry more stock. There is also a cost to growing crop and not knowing how it will turn out. Over a ten year period the barn will pay for itself so it makes sense,” says Tony. Covid-19 has put a halt to trophy deer sales this year but Tony says this will bring advantages for purchasers next year. “When borders open and tourism reignites they’ll get more mature stags with bigger heads. For me I have to hold them longer and cull the bottom end of the stags more heavily. In the long term though we see this side of our business as a good revenue earner.” Due to a reduction in demand for trophy animals worldwide at present, the beef operation, where they buy in four day old calves from dairy farms and weaned beef calves at 100 kilograms and rear them through to 18 months, has been a welcome diver- sification of their income. A fourth income stream, dairy grazing, has provided additional resilience. They have grazed 220 R1s this year and plan to increase this part of their operation and reduce the fattening side of their business. “There is more certainty of income with the graz- ing,” says Tony, “compared with buying in stock at a certain price and not knowing what the price will be when it comes time to sell.”