Business Rural Summer 2021

| 43 DEER » Rata Peaks Station Yearling hinds and spikers. Just a stones-throw fromAshburton sits Glen iddich Deer Farm, owned and operated by Pete and Jema Swann. Pete’s carved out a reputation second-to-none for the quality of his progeny and the velvet harvested from his prize stags, who naturally grow a new set of antlers annually. “We moved here 11 years ago and before this we had 19 years at Mossburn. Our deer farm on today’s standards certainly isn’t large, but the deer we have, carry top-notch genetics, deriving fromNew Zealand, Danish and German blood-lines,” Pete explains. Velvet has long been prized for its medicinal qualities, particularly in ancient Asian medicine. There are some fundamen- tal di erences in the way velvet from Glen iddich Farm is gathered and processed. Common practice, for the traditional markets, is to remove antlers, through a carefully controlled procedure at approxi- mately 50 55 days of growth, however after years of research Pete nowwaits for the antler to grow out to between 65 80 days, depending on the stag it is harvested from. Velvet is made up of water, protein, minerals and fat, with the active ingredients providing bene icial health outcomes most likely found in the protein and fat. Once considered perfect for removal and processing the whole antler is either freeze dried to be made into powder, or put through an extraction process under strict laboratory conditions. For Pete, having total control of the breeding, growing and ultimately harvesting of the Stag’s antlers through to inal capsule for sale is a key reason he believes his velvet supplements stand apart from the rest. When it comes time for harvesting the deer are contained within specially designed holding facilities, which eases considerably the stress on the animal and ensure the health and safety of the person undertaking the velvet antler removal. And what Pete observed in terms of the quality of the antlers his Stags were producing has been subsequently con irmed, following scrutiny Well worth the move at Ag Research, Invermay, where the properties of the velvet have been assessed as high. Pete was irst approached by a Korean processor in 1991, who was keen to source velvet grown out longer than traditionally practiced here, because of the quality of Pete’s Korean grade cut velvet, and so he experimented with a small number of velvet heads to supply to them. Murray Hammer fromAlpine Deer also approached Pete for over grown velvet. “Initially I turned Murray down, but 3 years later the Koreans couldn’t a ord to buy my velvet so I contacted Murray and we started supplying Alpine with over grown velvet. At this time Murray was freeze drying velvet to mill into powder and asked us if we wanted to go down this track. Which we did.” Velvet fromGlen iddich Farm is being exported to Yuhan pharmaceutical company where they are in the process of registering it as a functional food. Pete says his thinking about the ultimate uses for deer velvet are a generation ahead of what common practice is about today in New Zealand. Careful genetic selection over the decades has resulted in the production of some amazing Stags. One specimen, called Maverick produced 5.5 kg velvet in its irst year which leapt to 12.2 kg the following. “By the time Maverick was a three years old, we obtained velvet weighing 17kg from him.” As a testament to the quality of his herd, Pete sells his hinds to top commercial deer farmer, Craig Feaver, of Rata Peaks Station. This came about because Pete couldn’t ind a market for his hinds, so he killed them the irst year in Ashburton. “Craig told me, don’t you dare kill any of your hinds again. I’ll take whatever you have to sell. Today, his whole herd derives from my hinds.” “I think what is most exciting for me at this stage in my life is that there are so many great possibilities with velvet to pursue. That’s what keeps me interested after so many years.” Breeding under the guidance of a New Zealand processor, along with analysis testing, to produce top quality velvet for powder, extract and capsules. Contact Peter on 0272486346 or email peter@glenfid.co.nz Proud to support Rata Peaks Station