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Farm of the Week: Deer feeling at home in the farm's roundhouse
An encounter with deer farming in the remote Scottish island of Jura kick-started what would become a thriving and innovative farming business in North Yorkshire. Agricultural Correspondent Mark Casci reports.
IN only 12 years Nigel Sampson and his family have taken a small deer farm between York and Boroughbridge and transformed it into a very successful business.
He is now supplying the farm-reared venison to top supermarkets and restaurants as well as establishing a lucrative direct order business from his firm's website.
Like any good Yorkshire business couple, Mr Sampson and his wife Miranda are not letting anything go to waste, with leather goods made from the animals' skins operating as a sideline.
However it is the latest stage of investment, focused directly on the farm, which Mr Sampson hopes will take the business to the next level.
He has recently finished work installing what is thought to be the first roundhouse stock management building for handling deer.
The unique system will dramatically improve Mr Sampson's winter handling of the stock and he hopes to increase the amount of deer he can handle from the current level of 500 to 800.
"I originally went into deer farming after managing an estate in Scotland, on the Isle of Jura. It was there that I got interested in deer farming and came back to Yorkshire to start one," he said.
"Having invested thoroughly in the factory over the last few years it seemed logical to now turn our attention to the farm."
Rather than breed the deer, Mr Sampson operates a finishing service, buying his stock in from hill farmers predominantly based in Scotland and taking them through to maturation.
The roundhouse structure allows Mr Sampson to efficiently manage his stock in different pens or zones inside it while giving them all the benefits of being outdoors thanks to the light and ventilation it provides while simultaneously keeping their bedding and feed away from the elements.
It is here that they will be housed for the winter where they will be fed on silage, straw and some concentrate.
For the summer they are put out to grass before again being housed in the roundhouse before they go through to finish.
The structure allows Mr Sampson the opportunity to keep deer farming in a natural way while improving production.
"We wanted to have a better outdooring system for the farm," Mr Sampson said. "This farm is a natural grass farm and to have them on the land like this is great.
"These deer have really only been in here for a few days and they are getting so used to it already. They do not feel frightened or threatened at all in the area, they have really strong peripheral vision so having somewhere they feel comfortable is very important.
"We can now buy more calves and house them efficiently."
The latest addition to Mr Sampson's Low Farm, near Queen Ethelburga's College, represents the latest in a long line of effective investments he and his wife have made in the 12 years in deer farming.
Starting Holme Farm Venison, the couple operated from a number of premises before moving to their current 10,000 square foot factory at Sherburn-in-Elmet.
As well as supplying the likes of Booths and Asda, Mr Sampson's venison is served up on the plates of patrons of an ever-increasing list of hotels and restaurants in and around Yorkshire.
The Holme Farm Venison online store has also proved a success, attracting some 26,000 hits per week.
He proudly says that now his business employs 35 people, an astonishing statistic given that it all comes from a farm which totals less than 100 acres. Mr Sampson's skills as a farmer and businessman are not the only elements to the ongoing success. His wife Miranda's keen eye for fashion means that the skins of the deer are being used to produce luxury leather handbags, shoes and associated products which are proving popular with consumers. Leather from deer skin proves to be surprisingly soft to the touch yet thoroughly hard wearing.
It has all made for a busy time for the couple, with November and December among the busiest times for any deer farmer. At this time of year calves begin to arrive through their farm gates in droves, ready to be reared by Mr Sampson.
Given his passion for the style of farming which has made him successful makes it all the more surprising that the UK is so reliant on foreign venison imports to meet demand. The market for venison in the UK has increased by close to 30 per cent in the past four years but domestic farmers are not meeting the demand, put off by the high costs of fencing and housing that are needed to get going in deer farming.
Mr Sampson works with the likes of the British Deer Farmers' Association to try to encourage more farmers into producing venison, which is gaining in popularity because of its taste and health qualities.
"It really is quite satisfying," he said. "During the summer when the sun is going down to look out over so many red deer on your land is unbelievable and can be quite spectacular.
"They are great animals to rear and farm."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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