Simple, effective philosophy drives deer success
Nearly 50 years ago, Stu Stokes was introduced to deer farming by his father Bruce, and it’s fair to say the passion stuck.
Today, he runs a red deer operation in the foothills just outside Springfield. Across two blocks totalling just under 400 hectares, he manages more than 900 velveting stags, 700 breeding hinds, and around 600 replacement fawns.
Over the years, Stokes has dabbled in a bit of everything – cropping (grass, clover, peas, and barley seed), dairy support, and beef cattle. But through all the changes, one thing has remained constant – deer. While he initially focused on venison, the past decade has seen a shift in direction, with velvet production now taking centre stage.
A key part of his success comes down to a simple but effective philosophy: focus on the bottom 10 per cent. “It’s about identifying what’s not working and doing something about it,” Stokes says.
In the velveting side of the business, applying the 10 per cent rule is straightforward. Velvet weights are recorded, and style is noted, making it easy to spot the underperformers. In recent years, Stokes has moved to an electronic recording system, which has made tracking and decision-making even more efficient.
When it comes to breeding, things get a bit trickier. Stokes doesn’t single-sire mate or use genetic testing, so identifying the bottom 10 per cent of hinds requires a bit of creativity. At weaning, he selects what he reckons are the bottom 10 per cent of fawns – the ones he jokingly calls ‘pot lickers’ because they’re too small to even get a lick in the pot.
He then uses a mix of ‘milkies’ (a Vaseline-like substance) and food-grade dye to mark the tops of their heads. After returning them to the hinds, he brings the mob back in a few days later. Any hind with a blue-stained udder or belly is matched to a marked fawn and removed from the breeding pool. “If I paint nine fawns, I’ll usually find eight hinds with blue bellies – and I’ll know two of those fawns were twins,” he explains.
Stokes applies the same bottom 10 per cent philosophy to his pastures. Each year, he identifies the lowest-performing paddocks, whether that’s due to weed pressure that can’t be easily controlled, slow regrowth, or poor grass, herb, or legume content. Once identified, these paddocks are pulled out of rotation and put through a winter cropping programme.
Stokes typically sows swedes and either kale or fodder beet, depending on the season and feed requirements. This gives him a chance to reset the paddock and build fertility before re-sowing it into permanent pasture. Of the forages he finds useful, SovGold kale, Jamon fodder beet, and Manta Italian ryegrass have all provided suitable quality and growth patterns that match the seasonal requirements of his deer property.
Stokes’ approach to pasture renewal is another example of how he sticks to what works – applying the same bottom 10 per cent principle across different parts of the farm. Recently, he was a guest on The Al & Juddy Show podcast. The podcast provides a bridge between the technical and practical side of implementing forages in farm systems, and is a great way to follow some of the ways Stokes makes these decisions and how his deer system has evolved over the years.
You can hear more on The Al & Juddy Show podcast episode ‘Shedding light on deer systems with Stu Stokes’.