6 | DEER » Peel Forest Estate “Having the wintering shed has allowed us to massively reduce our cropping area, while also boosting animal welfare and improving the farm environment.” Innovation is a hallmark of Peel Forest Estate’s ongoing pursuit of excellence. • from page 5 Wintering barn successful With their annual velvet harvest now more than 30 tonnes, Mark is currently exploring options to add value to this quality product by partnering with a brand in the Asian market. Blending traditional aesthetics with high scores, Peel Forest Estate has developed their own unique style of antler, known as the Peel Forest Trophy with long, clean tynes and a wide, sweeping structure. “We’re selling more trophies domestically than we ever have.” Innovation is a hallmark of Peel Forest Estate’s ongoing pursuit of excellence. Last year, Mark’s new 6000sqm wintering barn was trialled for the first time. To Mark’s knowledge, this is by far the largest deer wintering barn in New Zealand. In total, around 9500 deer are wintered at Peel Forest Estate. Last winter, the majority of stock was wintered on grass and strategic crops while older stags – 1350 in total – went into the shed. “It just took so much pressure off and has allowed us to change our strategy to have less winter cropping and more grass. It was very successful in its first year and we continue building on and improving how we do that system. “Previously, we were doing all our wintering on winter crops, but it can get very wet here and it’s not ideal having animals standing in mud, not to mention the damage that does to soil structures. Having the wintering shed has allowed us to massively reduce our cropping area, while also boosting animal welfare and improving the farm environment.” Mark notes that stags wintered inside last year cut the same in terms of velvet weight as stags outside. “I think there’s an opportunity to improve that this winter by upping the type of feed we’re giving them as well.” Effluent is effectively managed via 300mm deep woodchip bedding. It is all trapped in the top 100mm that can be subsequently worked into cropping paddocks as fertiliser. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! TOBY HOW FENCING Covering all aspects and types of rural fencing, aswell as residential. centrally located in Geraldine to service the wider Canterbury region. Give Toby a call 0273031033 Proud to be part of the Peel Forest estate story For all your fencing requirements, from rural to residential, give Toby a call today on 027 303 1033. Proudly supporting Peel Forest Estate and the local Geraldine community. YOU NEED THE BEST. TO LOOK AFTER THE BEST. When it comes to the transport of stud livestock you can’t go past Downlands Deer and Studstock. During the past 40 years, we have pioneered the way in studstock transportation with purpose built trucks, calm expert livestock handlers, efficient nationwide transport routing and now with visual tracking from pick up to delivery. Talk to Downlands Deer and Studstock today to ensure your livestock arrives in the best condition possible.
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