“If good animals were offered, and they were what the buyers were looking, for the price has been consistent with the quality of the animal; if not, then they’ve left them in the arena,” PGW’s deer stud coordinator Graham Kinsman told Rural News.
As the annual round of sales came to a close last week he noted there’d been a greater consistency in price achieved across the country for comparable animals than in some seasons.
“There’s definitely been a swing to velvet genetics and if there’s trophy potential too [buyers] have had a go if they could see a good profit margin. But animals with the combination of velvet and trophy are few and far between.”
One such stag made the top price at Brock Deer’s sale at $60,000. With a sale average of $10,250 and clearance of 18 from 19 offered, it was one of a string of velvet focused Southland sales which went well, says Kinsman.
“There was virtually a total clearance across two days and four studs. The question I was asking myself was how long could it keep going but the interest was there right to the end.”
South Canterbury studs Deer Genetics NZ and Peel Forest preceded the Southland sales. Kelly Bennett of Deer Genetics NZ described their sale as “very good”.
“The top [price] was $24,000 and the average $7000 with all but four from 42 being sold.”
The average was back on last year’s $8800 largely because the top two animals offered this year didn’t reach their reserve, reflecting a more cautious mood in the sector, he added.
“Our top last year, and the year before was $50,000.”
Peel Forest’s sale, in the afternoon after Deer Genetics’, came close to that with a top price of $47,000 and average of $12,300.
“There were only 18 stags offered and they were all of extremely high quality,” Kinsman says about the Peel Forest sale.
As Rural News went to press Brock Deer’s $60,000 was the highest South Island price but two pre-Christmas North Island sales pipped that with $63,000 and $64,000 maximums.
For John Kempthorne of Windermere Red Deer, Hamilton, $63,000 for a 2-year-old son of Walton was a pleasing way to bow out of the industry.
“We’ve been farming deer for 33 years: you can’t do it forever.”
A 3-year-old son of Odysseus landed $64,000 for Canes Deer, Reporoa, contributing to a season topping sale average of nearly $17,000.
“Every stud has its moment and this may be mine,” says Malcolm Cane. It was only his 4th sale of stud stock, having previously focused purely on the trophy market.
“For the last 15-20 years I’ve been breeding for the best trophy style antlers and I’ve tried to never breed from stags with any faults. Often I’ve bought the best stag in the country to breed from them.”
For a full list of stag sales clearances, averages and top prices see www.deer.agonline.co.nz
