| 3 DEER » Ardleigh Farm Ltd Genetics lift velvet weights, quality Ardleigh Farm is a commercial farm producing venison, velvet, selling velvet stags, trophy stags and in calf hinds. Aimee Wilson Ardleigh Farm near Geraldine has experienced rapid genetic gains with its deer breeding over the past few years, and now all the hard work is paying off. Owners Donald, Kathy, son Ben and wife Anna have been breeding some of the best commercial red deer in the country, and over the past 12 months velvet and venison prices have been strong. Originally starting in 1989 in Mount Somers, Donald and Kathy moved from sheep, beef and crop farming into deer, and then purchased Ardleigh Farm in Geraldine in 2014. They combined their 540ha farm with a separate 260ha block, Rockpool, 20 minutes away and then in 2022 also purchased Netherdale Deer Stud from David and Lynley Stevens in Balfour, Southland. This enabled the family to complement its own herd and achieve faster genetic gain and velvet weights. “It is our intention to continue David’s good work improving velvet weights and quality as we move into the future with the two herds,” Ben said. The industry has progressively changed from the early 1990s when a two-year-old deer weight of 2kg was good – “now we are recording well over 7kg.” Ben puts this down to using artificial insemination to give some good results, and by sourcing stags that were not just on farm. “In the last three years we have moved to include an embryo transfer program further extending the reach of the genetics.” Ardleigh Farm has always been run as a commercial farm producing venison, velvet, selling velvet stags, trophy stags and in calf hinds. This winter they’ll be selling Netherdale genetics for the first time with the in-calf hinds sale and next January marketing its yearling hinds, two and three year old stags, as well as continuing to produce trophy stags for the hunting market – as it has done for the past 25 years. “We have always enjoyed doing what we’re doing, you always have to farm to your passion,” Ben said. While the industry was strong, it was important to keep moving on with genetics to make it pay, he said. “We have some very good deer to offer the industry.” In January 2026 Ardleigh Farm will look at also providing some stud options and incorporate stud sales into their programme as well – to continue what David and Lynley have done down south. Donald said Geraldine is a real hub for deer farming with quite a few farms all within half an hour of each other. “We’re a major velvet producing area and with the grass growing well we can winter our animals easily and grow reliable winter crops,” he said. The deer industry was important to the New Zealand economy and Asian countries in particular had continued to support velvet for use in many health products, particularly South Korea and China. The future looks bright for the deer industry, after tough times during Covid-19 when venison prices were low and the market for trophy stags came to a halt. Four years on the niche farming market is back on track. “It is our intention to continue David’s good work improving velvet weights and quality as we move into the future with the two herds.” For all fencing requirements, both urban & rural • Sheep/Cattle/Deer Fencing • Stock Yards • Pole Sheds • 3.5 Digger with Augers & Truck Contact Jamie: 021 493 377 wrattfencing@outlook.com
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