Winner of the supreme Southland Environment Award, an intensively managed 164-hectare deer farm, has benefited from progressive improvement over the past 20 years.

A Lochiel deer farm, adhering to an intensive though highly productive system, has won the supreme Southland Environment Award and will proceed to the national finals to represent the region.

Cam Nelson’s parents Wally and Jan purchased the 164-hectare farm in 2003, at which point the property was running a 50:50 mix of sheep and deer. While Wally and Jan remain involved, Cam and partner Christina Vaughan took over in 2016, and as well as progressively transitioning to 100 per cent deer, have focused increasingly on improving herd genetics.

“In 2015 we started DNA testing the stags, plus a selection of the hinds. We have always bred for velvet growth, while also selling our in-calf hinds for venison production, meaning they need to be a certain size. In the first few years it was easy to pick out what to replace. Now standards are improving, the bottom line is harder to determine, and our poorer performers are less obvious,” Cam says.

PGG Wrightson Livestock Southland Deer Specialist Ben Beadle provides ongoing advice, while the Nelsons also frequently consult the company’s National Deer and Velvet Manager Tony Cochrane. Russell Cockram collects their velvet.

Continuous improvement was noted by the Southland Environment Award judges as a guiding principle for the Nelsons. In their genetics strategy, that now invariably means selecting stags in the top three at each sale, some artificial insemination, and the potential to adopt embryo transfer in the coming years.

Emphasising genetics is starting to pay off, particularly reflected in their recent National Velvet Competition win, from a 12.34 kilogram cutting five-year-old stag, a highlight within overall annual velvet production of 3400 kilograms, from 250 mixed-age stags, 180 rising two-year-olds and 180 spikers.

Farming deer intensively on a relatively small property, the Nelsons focus on environmental sustainability. Improving winter grazing practices to minimise pasture damage and promote better animal welfare is the objective.

“We started with covered sheepyards, though since we no longer carry sheep, that was a waste of space. In 2017 we turned the yards into a wintering shed, running around 100 of the older stags inside from early June to mid-August. While we could run more stags in the shed, social pressures stress the stock, so fewer stags are better. In 2019 we built a bigger shed for up to 200 spikers. In January we take 150 bales of red clover off for use in the sheds through the winter. Now we are developing a feed pad for the hinds. It all takes the pressure off the crop paddocks, supporting our environmental ethos,” says Cam.

Noted by the award judges was the farm’s commitment to native ecosystems through initiatives such as native plantings, pond creation and the replacement of eucalyptus with native species. Soil and water conservation is evident in the use of sediment traps and water flow management on the farm’s relatively flat land, said the judges, while substantial investment in shelter and shade further supports biodiversity across the farm.

“In the mornings, when we drive around, all the deer are in the shade on one side of the paddock. Later they go to the other side of the trees. Deer like shelter, which might be a brow sitting out in the middle of the paddock. When you drive out there you can tell it’s a calmer spot. They will find those sheltered spots.

“We’ve also developed more areas for bird corridors, making those native areas a bit bigger for the bird life to shift. Tui and kereru are the main species we now see plenty of,” he says. 

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