Deer Velvet project

The idea to raise funds for the club by growing, harvesting and selling deer velvet is not one that would occur to many clubs, but our very own President Elect (2004) Bill Ballantyne came up with just that idea back in 2000.
Being a farmer well experienced in the raising of deer, he figured that if he could pursuade several members to lend some money in the form of debentures, he could purchase deer and let them run on his farm. The deer would be separately identified by tag from other deer on the property, but at harvest time, thanks to Bill's generosity, the costs of processing the Rotary deer would be absorbed into the costs of processing the main herds.
Several members took up the offer, the end result being that 10 stags were purchased. Such has been the success of the project that all debentures were paid back within two years, and from then on it has been income to the club of about $2000 per year. This amount goes into club running expenses, thus helping to keep down the individual membership fee.

But to the uninitiated, what is deer velvet, and is our club involved in the production of some sort of aphrodisiac??
Read on!

Velvet is the name given to deer antlers in their early stage of growth, before the antlers harden into bone. In the early stage of growth, antlers are soft tissues, covered with fine, soft hair – hence the name ‘velvet’ - but it is the inside of the antler and not the velvety covering that is used as a health product. Velvet grows very quickly at up to 2cm per day and becomes available for harvesting about 60 days from the new growth appearing.

Male deer grow antlers every year, and if not removed at an early stage these antlers harden and are used as weapons, causing damage to other deer. If not removed, the hardened antlers are ‘cast’ in late Winter or early Spring to make way for the next year’s set of antlers.

In New Zealand, velvet can only be removed by veterinarians or specially trained and certificated farmers (of which Bill is one) under a programme developed in consultation with animal welfare groups and approved by the New Zealand Government’s Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. The programme involves ongoing training, supervision and auditing.

Several methods (including local anaesthetic) are used to provide analgesia so deer don’t feel any pain during velvet removal. After removal, the velvet is frozen and sent away to be graded and tendered.

With approximately 2 million deer, New Zealand has the world’s largest farmed deer industry and is the world’s largest producer of deer velvet.

But what is deer velvet used for? The idea that it is an aphrodisiac is just an old wives tale, although I suppose that some must believe in it's powers.
Much of the velvet goes to Korea, where it is used for medicinal purposes including healing ointment for ulcers, etc., and "keep awake" pills for truck drivers.

So how about that for a neat little project? I bet that not all club members know about that one, a typical little project that just quietly bubbles along in the background with the help of club members with a special interest (a bit like the Admiralty trees project, I suppose). Bill just runs it on his own farm as his contribution to the financing of the club.
Well done, Bill, I'm sure all members will be very appreciative of your efforts on their behalf.