Foveran Deer Park held its 43rd annual sire stag sale in the Hakataramea Valley earlier this month.
Stud manager Barry Gard said all but one of the 52 stags on offer sold for an average of about $7500, which was more than the average price at the annual sale last year.
Foveran Deer Park ran a trophy deer hunting business and it was set for a busy year, he said.
Demand for hunting trophy deer increased the sale price of trophy stags.
"I feel the trophy future is quite bright."
The top prices fetched at the sale was $60,000 for the opening lot, 6-year-old stag Benjamin.
Benjamin had a similar antler style to his sire Robert Hay, which was very even and multi-pointed and a very heritable trait.
The next lot, 6-year-old stag Titanic, a son of Kallis, sold for $50,000.
Titanic had an extremely heavy antler structure featuring up to 70 points in the past.
Both of the top-priced stags had been used as sires at the stud but as they had limited opportunities to use them in their herd, they were offered for sale.
"We are moving on to new blood."
The third lot, 6-year-old stag 9163, a son of Rigby, sold for $20,000.
Buyers of the first three lots were the Fraser family of Mt Cecil Deer Stud, near Waimate.
Brock Deer owner Elliot Brock said the sale went "real good" on-farm in Merino Downs, West Otago this month.
Especially as the velvet price continued to be on a "real downer", he said.
He sold all of the 23 red sire stags offered, for an average of $12,900 including a top price of $57,000 for 7-year-old trophy stag Dutton, sired by Zambuka.
The average price was $20,000 at the sale last year.
"The average is definitely down but it was better than I thought it was going to be."
Three previous sales had featured sire stags selling for more than $100,000 each.
"We probably didn’t have a stag worth $100,000 this year — it is hard to have one every year."
Of the 29 red hinds offered this year, 26 sold for an average price of $2400, which was $100 more than last year.
"I was quite surprised."
A full clearance of 30 velvet stags sold for an average price of $1690, which was on par with previous years.
"That was real good."
Deer farmers were culling older stags to reduce the supply of velvet and improve the quality so the price would rise.
Altrive Red Deer Stag Sale was held on-farm in Waipounamu, near Riversdale this month.
Stud owner Samantha Elder said they sold 18 of the 22 sire stags for an average price of $8700, including a top price of $25,000 for 5-year-old sire stag 266-20 to Forest Road Farm stud in Hawke’s Bay.
All 38 of the 2-year-old velveting stags sold for an average price of $1437.
A full clearance of 32 yearling hinds sold for an average of $1684.
The sale result was pleasing considering the tough year in the velvet industry, she said.
"It is tough when you get the velvet cheques and they’re not where you are used to and it puts pressure on the system."
She remained positive because buyers continued to prioritise improving the genetics of their herd to produce a tidier, more traditional style the market wanted, she said.
"It has been stressful but we believe things will get better."
Arawata Red Deer held its 35th annual stag and hind sale in Pine Bush, Southland this month.
Stag 122/22 fetched the top price of $20,000.
Stud owner John Somerville said he was "happy enough" with the sale result considering some deer farmers would have less money to spend on stags due to the velvet price "being back quite a bit".
Deer farmers culling older stags were being paid good money for venison, which allowed them to invest in 2-year-old stags.
The destocking of big numbers of older velvet stags with rougher heads would reduce the oversupply of low-value velvet and ensure a better-quality product was being offered to market to correct supply and demand.
"It’ll tidy the national herd up."
He was optimistic the market would improve and export markets would grow.
"We have to make sure we have the volume right and produce the right sort of product, which is easy to process."
The Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries report released by the Ministry for Primary Industries last month said there was strong underlying consumer demand for velvet in China and South Korea.
An expected decline in velvet production was forecast to lift velvet export prices this year.
Emerging markets, such as Vietnam, were also driving the promising outlook for the industry.
Rural Livestock deer genetics agent Adam Whaanga, of Mosgiel, said many deer farmers relied on their velvet revenue to buy stags.
Although the velvet price was "down considerably", the clearance rates at red deer stags in the South had been good.
"At the right level, the stags are still moving ... quality sells and the rest were at a market rate."
He was pleasantly surprised by the strong demand for velvet hinds at sales.
"They went to a lot of different buyers, which is a positive, as they are obviously banking on the future."
