"Positive" and "encouraging" are words that deer farmer and veterinarian Dave Lawrence, of Browns, is using to describe this year’s venison and velvet season. "It is all very positive," Mr Lawrence said. He said as the industry moved out of the trough, deer farmers were now retaining more stock to build up numbers, rather than sending them to the works. A revamped single quality assurance programme for farmed deer is being supported by the major venison marketing companies and the New Zealand Deer Farmers Association. "That is a bit of a feather in the cap for the industry," Mr Lawrence said.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 19, 2016 17:02 UTC