New deer chair elected

Managing director of First Light Foods, Gerard Hickey, has been elected deputy chair.

At a meeting in Wellington earlier this month, two new producer appointees, Hamish Fraser, South Canterbury, and Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, Waikato, were also welcomed to the board - replacing Mark Harris and former chair Ian Walker who have retired.

Bell says there is a large untapped potential for profitable venison production on drystock farms.

"The industry's response to the Covid pandemic has been focused on building market opportunities. We now have a much greater spread of markets and market segments than ever before and with those, we can offer much greater income security to venison producers."

She added that the board also recognised the value that velvet adds to the industry.

"This is true, even on venison operations, where velvet from spikers and sire stags adds significantly to the economics of farming deer."

Bell says DINZ will be continuing to support producers with policy advocacy where needed.

Bell is co-owner of Criffel Station, Wanaka and has commercial interests in animal health product importing and trading companies. She has also been involved in the development of several major deer industry initiatives. These include the Passion2Profit programme that has been instrumental in the development of new venison markets; the deer progeny test that has greatly strengthened DeerSelect, the industry's genetic database; and DeerPRO, that detects and manages Johne's disease in deer.

Bell and husband Jerry (who has previously served as a DINZ board member) farm 6,000 deer at Criffel Station. Their other business interests include tourism and property development.