Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ), MPI and the NZ Deer Farmers Association (NZDFA) have come up with the training resources for up and coming deer farmers.
They were developed with co-funding from the MPI Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF).
NZDFA producer manager Tony Pearse said the project aimed to promoted skill development among deer farm staff and new deer farmers.
“We need the next generation of deer farmers to be well-trained, both academically and in practical deer farming skills and have those skills recognised,” Pearse said.
Motivate had been working with the Primary ITO and industry over the past 18 months to rekindle interest in the only deer farming qualification, a level three deer livestock husbandry course covering breeding, genetics and deer health.
“From a base of virtually zero trainees in the previous five years we have been able to attract 20 young deer farmers and staff to three-day block courses in the past 12 months,” Pearse said.
There were potentially another 100 learners to draw on over the next three years and perhaps 250 over six years, he said.
But 80% of the training commitment revolved around onfarm assignments.
“And here we have a problem, where most trainees are finding that the available materials provided by the industry are too complex for remote learning at the level three and four stage and much of the original course material is also out of date.”
Pearse said the resources needed to be fully updated and rewritten to make them fit for purpose.
But the industry was unable to justify the financial resources required, given the relatively small pool of potential students in deer farming compared to the larger livestock industries.
The $45,000 resource update project had managed to secure co-funding, comprising $30,000 from SFF with a joint$15,000 investment from DINZ, NZDFA and the Primary ITO.
The update was expected to take 12 months to complete.
Once approved, the overhauled resources would be published and made available as a formal course resource book.
Ultimately, it would be posted on the DINZ website for those intending to get a qualification, as well as those wanting a basic knowledge of deer farming.
Meanwhile, the 2016 NZDFA Next Generation workshop had been over-subscribed with a record 60 attendees and several more on a waiting list.
: “There is always the talk there are too many grey heads in farming but talk is not going to change it, we have to do something.”
David Morgan
Deer Farmers Assn
NZDFA chairman David Morgan said the deer industry was in a good spot making it attractive to lure the next generation.
“There is always the talk there are too many grey heads in farming but talk is not going to change it, we have to do something,” he said.
Now in its fourth year, the workshop was initiated by the NZDFA to cater for younger farmers keen to learn more about deer farming, connect with their peers and to visit a successful farm to see what was possible with the input of knowledge, technology and a little know-how.
“We have young people who are quite genuine next generation and others who have come in because they see the opportunity in deer and that is quite a healthy situation for the industry,” Morgan said.
With changing regulations in farming, smart deer farming potentially fitted well into new farm systems.
“Deer have a very positive part to play to meet new environmental regulation in the future – it’s all about integration and we are part of the beef, sheep, deer sector. We are all in the same boat, growing grass to feed livestock.
“We all need smart young farmers coming through and Next Generation is naturally creating a succession plan for the industry.”
Morgan would like to see the NZ Young Farmers get involved.
“I see opportunity for Young Farmers to take this to a new dimension and help spread its success wider,” he said.
Morgan said there was a good number of new faces registered for the 2016 programme.
“There is a big contingent from Canterbury and north Otago as well as a good number from the North Island, which is pleasing.”
The 2016 event would run on August 24-25 at Hanmer Springs.
Day one kicked off with a visit to two north Canterbury deer farms while day two was a conference session focused on profitable deer farm systems and environmental management, capped off with the next generation and the future of deer farming.
