Taste grows for venison

The Hansen family’s livestock differs from the norm, with the multipurpose red deer running on their 660-hectare property.

The family has been farming deer since 1982 and Tim Hansen established the Mandagery Creek Australian Farmed Venison brand 20 years later in 2002.

“The venison industry is very competitive on a gross margin basis and a very viable alternative,” he said.

“As an industry it is in great shape, with both domestic and export demand for product.”

The operation now aims to process 5000 head of deer a year at a plant in Myrtleford, Victoria, both from the Hansen’s property and their supply partners.

About 80 per cent of the output sells through frozen and chilled export markets to 25 countries, while the remaining 20pc gets sold domestically, mainly to the food service industry in NSW and Victoria.

“While 90pc of my time goes into growing the domestic market, a majority of the product still goes to export,” Mr Hansen said.

“There are great opportunities in the domestic market, but as a business we also need the cash flow of the export market.

“Anything from full 20- and 40-foot containers to 50-kilogram packs of leg medallions are sent to export – we have to be flexible because it is such a niche market.”

Red deer are processed each week, with varying numbers, depending on the time of year, while fallow deer processing ís more seasonal.

However, Mr Hansen said they had solid demand for both species all year, and worked with supply partners from throughout NSW and Victoria, as demand had been stronger than they could supply alone.

“Spring is when a lot of our supply partners want to get stock off, and the winter period is when the domestic business demand peaks,” Mr Hansen said.

“This means stronger domestic demand in the middle of the year for the premium end, while January and February are soft, but the export market is strong then, so it works well.

“We process every week to have a consistent product, consistent delivery and consistent message – we have to be consistent about what we do.”

While only red deer are farmed at “Rocklands”, the business also processes fallow deer and is fully Halal certified.

“The red deer suited our management more than fallow deer – fallow deer are great deer as well, but red deer was better for us as a family,” Mr Hansen said.

“Fallow deer are focused on Asia, especially for the Chinese New Year and Ramadan.

“We traditionally sent into the European market, but in the past two years that has been a hard market to work into, because of competing product from low-cost competitors and foreign exchange rates that haven’t worked in our favour.

And it isn’t only venison getting sent overseas from Mandagery Creek deer, with offal sent to Asia to be made into pharmaceuticals.

“Skins are sold to Europe, and now my sister Penny also has (the brand) ‘1803’, value adding skins to be made into handbags and craft items,” Mr Hansen said.

“That is just the family working together to try and increase the margin, which is difficult.”

Mandagery Creek Australian Farmed Venison mostly gets sold into the food service industry domestically, which has meant Andrews Meats, Sydney, for the past 11 years.

“We are developing new options for retail, and have wanted to make sure the packaging was spot-on before marketing it to consumers,” Mr Hansen said.

New portion-controlled retail packaged Mandagery Creek Venison will hit the shelves at the end of July and Mr Hansen said it would be important first to educate customers on using venison.

“The loin makes up only about six per cent of cuts – anyone can sell loins, it is the other cuts that need attention and time,” he said.

He also pointed out how much the product had improved since venison was first farmed in Australia.

“The instance of ‘dark cutters’ has reduced dramatically and transport operators are very aware animals must be in good condition for slaughter,” Mr Hansen said.

“We now have numerous generation-old farmed animals that are used to being handled.

“In the mid-1970s the animals that were farmed were still being caught from the wild, but people now know they need to be better handled.”

STARTING with a handful of red and fallow deer, Tim Hansen’s father introduced deer to the family.

“My father was a vet originally and he enjoyed working with them on a small farm near Orange – that is how it all started,” he said.

“The life cycle and management of the deer is interesting and they are great animals to work with.”

Mr Hansen is pictured with red deer on “Rocklands”, Orange.

His parents Andrew and Judith Hansen bought the 160-hectare property in 1991, and his brother Josh fenced the property to suit deer.

They now run a closed herd, producing their own replacement females and buying in stags from supply partners who use regular artificial insemination (AI) programs.

In 2002, Mr Hansen purchased the neighbouring 500ha property where they now run a 1500-head closed herd.

“We use a cell grazing system, as not only is it good ecologically, but it is also good for management because the deer are so much quieter being handled and moved regularly.

“We have a combination of perennial improved pastures and some native pastures – and a targeted-fertiliser program is important.”

Deer are sent straight from the paddock to processing, with turn-off based on liveweight.

“They are processed at 90 kilograms live weight, at a minimum of seven and maximum of 24 months, with older females and stags going into a different market,” Mr Hansen said.