Central Hawkes Bay deer property, Forest Road Farm offering elite level stags and hinds. 

As the season’s first significant offering of elite velvet genetics, the Forest Road Farm sale on 16 December will set the tone for what’s to come.

This year is the eighth annual on farm sale for the Charteris family, who have farmed red deer on their Tikokino, Central Hawkes Bay property for over 40 years.

Forest Road owner Grant Charteris says the legacy of one of the farm’s champion stags, Lazarus, features heavily.

“Our sale has gained momentum every year, and this year we are proud to present our best offering yet.

“This year’s three year old stags average 7.2 kilograms, with style, symmetry and weight. We have selected beautiful and heavy velvet heads, also bearing in mind sound temperament and good body constitution, ensuring a useful dual-purpose animal. We are thrilled with how our sires and breeding programme have delivered, and especially pleased to see the influence of the mighty Lazarus.

“We focus on breeding sires and production females with elite velvet genetics, able to move to any farming environment around the country and perform as well if not better than they do on our class six hill country. The progeny of Lazarus meet and exceed those criteria, and have attracted strong recent demand. He sired half the stags we are selling, while the majority of the hinds also have Lazarus genetics, either in their top or bottom lines,” says Grant.

Steve Annan, PGG Wrightson national deer stud coordinator, says those who have invested in velvet genetics are reaping the dividends.

“At Forest Road, Lazarus has been an excellent example of that, lifting the bar on velvet weights. Where pedigrees are used, the results are showing through, and other stags elsewhere are showing similar benefits. For those prepared to take the punt, the results are well worth the investment.”

For the first time this year, Forest Road Farm has included Deer Select data in its sale catalogue. With decades of deer production data, analysing many generations of the farm’s deer, Deer Select aims to provide a solid basis on which purchasers can base decisions on the merits of the stags and hinds in the selling ring.

Forest Road Farm is offering 25 three year old stags, 30 yearling hinds and six lots of semen. Set to attract interest from around the country, the sale will also feature on bidr.