28 | Sale of family deer Kauru Hill Venison’s trailer (top). The top deer yards looking towards Kauru Hill. Fixed grid pop-up sprinklers for irrigation installed in 2017 across 90ha. Karen Phelps It’s a beautiful block of land with a temperate climate just 20 minutes from Oamaru. And it’s on the market for the first time in generations. Kauru Hill Venison represents a great opportunity for a savvy person to get their hands on a successful existing business or put their own mark in the land, says owner Bryce Burnett. The family owned and operated venison business in North Otago was started by Bryce’s parents in 1982 when they entered industry with 30 hinds. Bryce, who runs the farm with wife Janice, took over in 2000 and the focus has been on consistently breeding high quality venison through the breeding programme with sire stags locally sourced from Foveran Deer Park in Kurow. They only breed single sire mated hinds in groups, tag record from each paddock for traceability. Bryce says this is good for the meat, as consumers increasingly want to know where their food comes from, and means the Burnetts can breed from the best deer so they can take the stock to the next level each time. They kill with Mountain River in Rakaia. People can also buy direct through the Burnetts’ website in season – kauruhill.co.nz – and they sell at the weekly Oamaru Farmers’ Market. As well as breeding for meat, Kauru Hill Venison also breeds for velvet and improved genetics has shown that velvet growth has increased by 10%. There is the option for the new owner to purchase the stock, which comprises 750 hinds and 300 bulls. The Burnetts finish all the wieners on the farm each year, around 630 with approximately 100 of these kept as replacements. DEER » Kauru Hill Venison Spiker velvet is coming along well, which is very lucrative and means another income, says Bryce. There are two sets of good central yards and two houses on the property. Covered yards built by Russell have a shearing shed on the end and can hold 1200 ewes no trouble when the family did farm sheep before going fully-fledged deer in 2000. Cabbage trees, tussocks and rolling gullies, surround the farm and there is a 20ha QEII covenant piece of bush running along the river that protects the waterway. Other recent improvements on the farm include fixed-grid pop-up sprinklers for irrigation installed in 2017. These are discreet and hide underground when not in use as to not disturb the natural surroundings, and cover 90ha of the farm. “They are set up so you can drive over top of them and have an independent piping system off the lateral line so doesn’t put any pressure on the main line,” explains Bryce. The result has been that the farm was previously running 3000 stock units and has now been able to lift that to 4500 meaning huge productivity gains. Bryce says the land could be used for various types of farming if the new owners don’t want to carry on with deer. Bryce says it is bittersweet selling the farm but he is approaching 55 and his daughters Renata and Shannon are pursuing their own careers so its time to retire and do some of the things he’s always wanted to including travelling overseas. “It’s been hard but you get to the stage of life where it’s just time to move on. Although it’s been difficult it is also exciting to take the next step in life.” phone: 0800 499 024 web: farmelectric.co.nz Waters Services: Pump Installations & Servicing, Repairs & Fix Grid Sprinkler Systems Electrical Services: Pump Automation & Remote Control, Dairy Shed Automation and Servicing Refrigeration Services: Milk Snap Chiller Units Installations & Servicing
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