In this issue:

	"FEEDMAN” - A feed-to-dollars deer management software package
	Influence of Pre-Slaughter Conditions on the Occurrence of  Ecchymosis
	Marketing Deer Co-products - is an R&D project needed?
	The Deer Industry Company Report
	Venison Prices

 "FEEDMAN” - A feed-to-dollars deer management software package

Final Report: RIRDC Project DAQ-246A
Principal Investigator: Stephen Sinclair, QDPI

The recent publication of “FEEDMAN”, a commercial decision support software package, represents the final stage in RIRDC  Project DAQ-246A.

The package was written by Mr Stephen Sinclair, Deer Industry Development Officer of the Queensland Department of Primary Industry, Dr Ken Rickert, an expert in rural systems management at the University of Queensland, Gatton campus, and  Mr Jeff Pritchard, Asken Research Pty Ltd, a software development and consultancy firm.

FEEDMAN v3.0 is a computer program that helps red and rusa deer producers (and beef cattle producers) to compare feeding options for animal production. It has been designed primarily for pastoral conditions in central and south-eastern Queensland.

After describing the paddocks, soil types and forages on a farm, forage growth and sustainable stocking rates are calculated from monthly rainfall (which can be entered directly or selected from historical records), soil nitrogen status and tree density .

Mobs of deer (or cattle) can be allocated to each paddock and liveweight, market options (including velvet antler) and sales for each mob are estimated, together with mob and farm economics. Results appear as tables or graphs which can be printed.

By changing inputs, a wide range of scenarios can be tested and compared.  Farm management scenarios can be stored for future use or modification, and key input data can be changed to reflect local conditions. Help notes in the software together with a hard copy Technical Manual provide user-friendly directions and explanations.

FEEDMAN enables users to combine biological science with economic inputs and market options in order to test different strategies for beef and deer properties in central and southern Queensland. A range of tactical (short term) and strategic (longer term) “what-if” scenarios are possible, such as:

· What effect will a given rainfall pattern for the next 2 to 12 months have on farm carrying capacity, cattle and deer performance, forage availability and farm profit?

· How will supplementary feeding with grain or cottonseed meal affect production and profitability?

· What is the influence of various forage options on costs, performance and profitability?

· What profit will result from buying a specific mob of cattle or deer and feeding under specified forage systems within a set of climatic (rainfall) and market price conditions?

· When should surplus cows or velvet stags be culled?

· What is the productivity (forage production and animal production) of this farm relative to other farms?

· What is the relative profitability of different beef cattle or deer farming enterprises?

· What is the estimated sustainable carrying capacity of the property?

· What are suitable market specifications to target, and when?

· For a specified market or production goal, what forage system will maximise profit for given classes of cattle or deer?

· Should the deer farm target velvet production in addition to venison production, and to what degree?

The FEEDMAN software runs on IBM-compatible computers under Windows 95 (minimum 486 CPU with 32 MB of RAM but Pentium is preferable).  The package is distributed on a CD-ROM.

Inquiries:
Mr Stephen Sinclair
Queensland Department of Primary Industry
PO Box 96 IPSWICH Qld 4305
Tel. (07) 3280 1905  Fax. (07) 3812 1715

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Influence of Pre-Slaughter Conditions on the Occurrence of  Ecchymosis (“Blood-Splash”)  and High pH in Deer Carcasses

Final Report: RIRDC Project BRN-1A
Principal Investigators: Kevin & Nicola Barnes, Onkaparinga Venison S.A.

This RIRDC funded project was undertaken at the Strathalbyn abattoir in South Australia to determine whether improvements to killing systems for deer can reduce the occurrence of ecchymosis (“blood-splash”) in venison.

Ecchymosis is a serious quality issue affecting acceptance of fresh venison in the marketplace. Ecchymosis reduces the visual appeal of venison, shortens shelf-life and is a cause of carcass condemnation in the export trade.

This project involved collection of data on the incidence and severity of ecchymosis in fallow deer killed at Strathalbyn before the deer killing system was improved in 1998. After these abattoir modifications, similar carcass data was collected in 1999.

Data was collected for 334 fallow killed in the old system from May to July 1997 and 426 fallow killed in the new system in May to July 1999. Ecchymosis was recorded in the diaphragm muscle and in separate commercial cuts during boning.

The modifications to the killing system were designed to reduce the time between “stunning” (in this case by a low velocity .22 calibre rifle discharged into the brain from above the animal) and commencement of exsanguination (or “bleeding out”) of the carcass, (in this case by cutting the animal’s throat at the thoracic inlet) and also the time between the start of exsanguination and hanging up the carcass from the shackles on the kill chain.

Delay between stunning and exsanguination has been associated with a high incidence of ecchymosis in other species.

At Strathalbyn, the modifications involved improvements to the race leading to the sheep knocking box which enabled use of this pivoting knocking box for fallow rather than shooting the deer outside the abattoir and then carrying the carcass into the works.

These modications resulted in a reduction in the time between shooting the animal and cutting its throat from 15 to 20 seconds in the old system down to 5 to 7 seconds in the new system.  The time between cutting the throat to commence exsanguination and hanging the animal up on the kill chain was reduced from 1.5 to 2 minutes to 3 to 5 seconds. (This reduction in time from stunning to exsanguination reduces blood pressure in small vessels of the muscles immediately after the animal is shot, thereby reducing the likelihood that blood capillaries will burst and cause ecchymosis.)

The percentage of carcasses in which ecchymosis was detected dropped from 20% in 1997 to 3% in 1999 after these changes.

Whilst fat level and sex of the animal had some impact on the occurrence of ecchymosis (which tended to be more common in castrates in medium fat condition than in females), the killing system was the main factor affecting the incidence. There was no association between carcass weight and ecchymosis.

The authors concluded that modifications to abattoirs directed at other factors thought to influence the occurrence of ecchymosis in deer such as pre-slaughter stress are likely to have only minimal effect on the problem in comparison to speeding up the bleeding out process during slaughter.

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Marketing Deer Co-products - is an R&D project needed?

Deer co-products such as tendons, tails, pizzles, hearts, kidneys and blood are used in the preparation of traditional Asian herbal medicines. There is hence a market for these co-products in most places where there is a large local Asian population, particularly a population of Chinese origin.

The collection of deer “co-products” at abattoirs can add quite significantly to the profits from slaughtering and processing deer carcasses that are obtained by the sale of venison alone.

Most New Zealand venison processors have established solid markets in Asia for deer co-products. However, with the small volumes of co-products available in the past to individual deer processors in Australia, co-products were often just discarded at slaughter.

Failure to exploit the market value of deer co-products is one reason for the consistently lower prices paid to Australian deer farmers for slaughter stock than are paid in New Zealand.

Recent rationalisation in the venison processing industry in Australia has now created a situation in which recovery of the market value of co-products from deer slaughtered in Australia should be possible.  However, there are currently no developed markets for these products in Australia and there is only limited local experience in processing and packaging co-products to international standards.

Members of the RIRDC Deer Research and Development    Advisory Committee believe that the development of a reliable market for well-presented co-products would lead to significnant increases in the prices paid to deer farmers for their slaughter stock. Members of the committee are, however, cognisant of    recent criticism by some industry participants about the emphasis currently given by the committee to venison and velvet market development projects in the RIRDC deer R&D portfolio.

The committee’s emphasis on market investigation and market development projects was of course a response to past demands from industry participants to direct a high proportion of industry R&D funds into projects that would result in an improvement in farmgate prices for slaughter stock, following collapse of deer prices during the Asian financial crisis. With some improvement in prices recently and the reopening of Asian markets for deer products, at least some industry participants now appear to be questioning this priority for use of deer levy funds.

Over the last year the advisory committee has received and considered several applications for funding deer co-product  market development projects. The committee has however taken the view to date that these projects have not been sufficiently focussed to achieve any real outcomes for Australian farmers.

As with many other market development projects, the challenge is to design R&D projects from which the deer producers who fund the work can capture any resulting increase in profits. The committee is not permitted to fund projects if it appears that the major benefit from the work would be a “private benefit”.

All RIRDC R&D project applications must be drafted is a way that clearly documents a significant potential benefit for the deer industry as a whole. Particularly for market related projects, there must be a strategy disclosed in the application to demonstrate that any benefit from the work will be passed on to deer farmers.

Marketing of co-products is one way in which returns for deer farmers could be improved.  R&D funds for this year are fully committed, but a project could be funded next year. The advisory committee is therefore keen to hear the views of deer farmers on this potential area for deer R&D.  Do you think a RIRDC-funded co-product market project could be useful?  Please contact the chair of the committee, Ms Nola Anderson, Tel. ( 03) 9431 2360.

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THE DEER INDUSTRY COMPANY REPORT

Five Year Plan:  Development of the RIRDC new five-year R&D plan is not a DIC project, but one negotiated directly between RIRDC and Chris Tuckwell. The draft plan has been available for comment for several months. Copies can be obtained from the State presidents of the DIAA and RIRDC. The draft is also available to all interested people on the RIRDC web site (www.rirdc.com.au). Final comments on the plan must be provided to RIRDC before the DIAA’s annual general meeting at the end of August.

Quality Assurance: In April the Western Australian Branch of the DIAA organized a QA seminar. Speakers included Chris Tuckwell and Alan Chapman who discussed the industry QA program and encouraged deer farmers to adopt quality assurance as a necessity for the deer industry’s future rather than an option for interested farmers. Alan Chapman strongly encouraged deer farmers to accept quality assurance and indicated that within the next two years his company is likely to either pay premiums for animals sourced from quality assured properties or discount prices paid for deer sourced from non accredited properties. An immediate outcome of the seminar was the purchase of four new farm manuals and 1 transport manual.

   Since April another six farm manuals have been sold, two farms have been assessed for level two accreditation, (both need attention to some book keeping and other details before achieving level two status), and one more facilitator has been accredited.  In summary, 101 registered farm QA manuals have been purchased and 23 registered transport QA manuals have been purchased. Currently 19 properties have level three accreditation and 8 of these have achieved level two accreditation. Six people have achieved level-three transport accreditation and three people have achieved level-two transport accreditation. The Quality Assurance mark for Accredited Deer Farms has been accepted by IP Australia.

   Final approval for the Mark relies on acceptance by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The ACCC is examining supporting documentation to ensure the program does not unfairly discriminate against any sectors of industry. Any changed required by the ACCC are likely to be minor to remove any inadvertent opportunities for unfair discrimination from the QA manual.

   However, people whose farms achieve level-two accreditation status can now order a property QA sign from the Deer Industry Company. Signs have a guaranteed outdoor life of seven years, are 1000mm x 1200mm and can only be purchased from the company. They cost $180 plus freight and plus GST.

Venison Sales:  Average venison prices continued to rise during January and February. The HCW price for fallow deer venison has risen from an average price of $2.51 in December 1999 to $2.53at the end of February 1999. During the same period, the average price for red and red hybrid venison (price per kg hot carcase weight, less the industry levy, delivered to the abattoir) rose from $2.37 to $2.47 per kg HCW.

For the financial year ending June 2000, more than 56,100 deer were processed by cooperating processors, while during the same  period last year, only about 40,000 were processed (approximately 40% increase).

The percentage of stock within weight ranges and the average HCW of stock processed is similar to that recorded for the same period last year. However, the total volume of venison processed during the financial year increased from about 1,400 tonnes to about 1,800 tonnes, an increase of about 40%, between the two years.

Body Condition Scoring Charts:Condition scoring charts for deer related to visual animal assessment and carcase assessment have been produced for deer. They will assist producers better prepare animals for sale and so improve returns to growers and improve average quality and objective assessment of venison quality available to the market.

   The charts are based on RIRDC project work undertaken by: (i) Andrew Hansen and Bruce McKay, (ii) Rob Mulley and Jason Flesch, and (iii) Ken Drew in New Zealand. A poster that visually explains an emaciated, store, prime, fat and over-fat animal has been produced for all deer farmers. The spreadsheet price schedule calculator developed by Chris Tuckwell and provided for no cost for interested processors is based on these classifications.  A copy of each chart is included with this newsletter.

Chris Tuckwell,
Deer Industry Development Manager

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VENISON PRICES ($A/kg HCW)
 

FALLOW					RUSA					RED
Weight  Category	MAR 00	APR 00	MAY 00	JUN 00	Weight Category	MAR00	APR 00	MAY 00	JUN 00	Weight  Category	MAR 00	APR 00	MAY 00	JUN 00
Less than 20	$2.67	$2.31	$2.17	$2.38	less than 20	$1.82		$2.22	$2.02	less than 30	$2.25	$1.87	$2.26	$2.17
20 to 22.9	$2.64	$2.41	$2.41	$2.62	20 to 24.9	$1.82	$2.08	$2.16	$202	30 to 34.9	$2.38	$1.92	$2.15	$2.16
23 to 25.9	$2.63	$2.81	$2.93	$2.85	25 to 29.9	$2.12	$2.49	$2.36	$2.26	35 to 39.9	$1.94	$2.33	$2.17	$2.34
26 to 28.9	$2.68	$3.09	$3.23	$2.88	30 to 34.9	$2.42	$2.56	$2.58	$2.45	40 to 44.9	$2.16	$2.56	$2.87	$2.90
29 to 31.9	$2.79	$2.98	$3.26	$3.56	35 to 39.9	$2.62	$2.56	$2.84	$2.76	45 to 49.9	$2.44	$2.70	$2.51	$2.52
32 and over	$2.73	$2.97	$3.07	$3.52	40 to 44.9	$2.82	$2.56	$3.16	$2.90	50 to 54.9	$2.77	$2.94	$2.99	$3.02
Maximum	$3.00	$3.22	$3.32	$3.80	45 to 49.9	$2.62	$2.52	$3.14	$2.66	55 to 59.9	$2.58	$2.55	$3.23	$3.18
Minimum	$1.86	$2.00	$2.04	$2.20	50 to 54.9	$2.22	$2.50	$3.26	$2.62	60 to 64.9	$2.87	$3.14	$3.45	$3.48
Average	$2.66	$2.63	$2.65	$2.55	55 to 59.9	$2.11	$2.50	$2.53	$2.62	65 to 69.9	$2.85	$3.09	$3.01	$3.03
					60 and over	$2.02	$2.50	$2.67	$2.42	70 to 74.9	$2.69	$2.62	$2.52	$3.68
					Maximum	$2.82	$3.12	$3.26	$3.22	75 to 79.9	$2.67	$2.02	$2.02	$3.22
					Minimum	$1.82	$2.02	$1.57	$2.02	80 to 84.9	$2.66	$2.87		$4.12
					Average	$2.49	$2.53	$2.97	$2.53	85 to 89.9	$2.58			$3.32
										90 to 94.9	$1.82			$3.32
										95 to 99.9				$3.32
										100 and over	$1.92
										Maximum	$3.02	$3.69	$3.84	$4.12
										Minimum	$1.57	$1.32	$1.57	$1.82
										Average	$2.43	$2.62	$2.81	$2.78

Graph 1 below demonstrates the change in average prices for all venison sold by the cooperating processors and the average price of venison for Red (and hybrid), Fallow and Rusa deer. Graph 2 shows the variation in volume of venison processed by the processors providing data to the Deer Industry Company.

 

Other issues of this newsletter

Last updated: 21 July 2000
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