Elk farming is an agricultural industry for the production of elk as livestock or for the sport of hunting. Elk have a variety of uses – the venison industry and medicinal purposes e.g. the velvet antler or the antler in the premature stages of growth
A Wild Elk Farm: Raising Elk for Profit
A Colorado ranching family has demonstrated for nearly two decades that raising elk on their wild elk farm for the commercial market is more profitable than traditional livestock farming. With the help of a single hired hand, Lou Wyman maintains his elk in three separate herds. The first group consists of 60 or so head pastured near ranch headquarters. These animals are about as close to being domesticated as elk are ever likely to come.
Wyman’s Wild Elk Farm
And the Wyman ranch — 10,000 acres of lightly timbered Rocky Mountain foothill country perched at 7,000 feet in northwestern Colorado — would also satisfy popular notions as to what such an operation should look like . . . with a cattle-guarded entrance gate located several miles from the nearest paved road; a traditional single-story ranch house furnished with age-darkened antiques; a huge barn with hayloft, its roof sagging with the memory of decades of heavy snows; a log bunkhouse, its interior decorated with hunting trophies and warmed by a cavernous stone fireplace; sprawling pastures watered by a meandering fork of the nearby Yampa River; and a generous assortment of corrals, narrowing chutes, loading ramps, squeezes, and sundry outbuildings — all Wyman-built from locally harvested logs and home-milled lumber.
In fact, about the only thing missing from this otherwise classic Western American Gothic is a lazing herd of lowing cattle. But that’s OK, because Lou and Paula Wyman ranch critters that are a heck of a lot more interesting and aesthetic than a bunch of gutbulged cows; the Wyman ranch supports, depending on the season, from 200 to 300 head of wapiti . . . the regal Rocky Mountain elk.
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Commercial Elk Farming
Commercial Elk Farming is a relatively new agricultural industry for Western civilization and the United States. Elk, more accurately described as “Wapiti”, are a magnificent and unique animal possessing several attributes suitable for business development. Annually, bull elk produce “velvet” or soft antler, highly valued by East Asian cultures. Recent research in North American has declared antler velvet effective for nutritional joint support and maintenance. Nutritionally superior elk meat (AKA venison) is becoming more popular and is developing rapidly. Controlled “sport” hunting is also gaining popularity. These markets are supplied with animals from an escalating breeding industry. Animals are expertly “farmed” to produce the maximum value offspring annually which can be sold at fluctuating market prices.
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Elk Ranches
USA
Keith Warren visits multiple elk farms across North America and shows us how elk farming brings families together why presenting a great business opportunity.
New Zealand: https://mayfieldelk.com/
Mayfield Elk Farm in Southland is a state-of-the-art Wapiti unit, with central lanes and generous yards, where we run 500 deer – from our magnificent pedigree Elk Wapiti, to hybrid and Red Deer. Our 100ha property at Thomsons Crossing was one of the first New Zealand sheep farms to be converted to suit the giant deer. Also a 37 ha block at Earnscleugh, Central Otago.
Our deer shed includes a purpose-built sales ring for hosting on-farm auctions, and we were the first to import and install a Kiwi Elk Squeeze, which improved handling techniques to the extent we were able to reduce sedative when handling the large animals, and in some cases, use none at all.
Canada
The medicinal benefits of elk velvet antler:
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Elk hunting
Elk meat
You’ve asked, we’ve delivered! We are going to walk you through the entire breakdown of an elk ! Once your elk is gutted and skinned, we show you how to do the rest. For all the big game hunters out there, this is the video you need to maximize the amount of meat that you get off of your latest trophy kill. Elk meat is near the top of the list of lean meats, it’s right there with deer and bison as far as a good, healthy meats. Why pay ridiculous prices for something like Beyond Meat when you can eat a delicious, healthy, real, lean meat like elk meat?
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Association
North American Elk Breeders Assocation
https://www.naelk.org/so_you_want_to_be_an_elk_farmer.cfm
Many elk ranchers are attracted to the industry because of their fascination with the majestic appearance and interesting behavior of the animals, but they make the decision to raise elk after they discover their economic potential. The elk industry has progressed to a level that enables breeders to sell products from their versatile livestock in several markets.
The breeding stock market and the antler market have been the major markets in recent years. However, through the foresight of many progressive breeders, a meat market is being researched and developed. The demand for mature, hard-antlered bulls for the game farm market has accelerated as high-quality trophies become increasingly rare in the wild.
In elk ranching, we have a four-way demand for an animal that is fun to raise and extremely versatile. As an alternative livestock, elk have more history and potential than other contenders. The infrastructure is in place, the animals are available, and the markets are established or are being developed.
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Elk &Wapiti Society of New Zealand
https://www.elkwapitisociety.co.nz/
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North American Deer Farmers Association
https://nadefa.org/
Our Mission
Our mission is to foster a greater association among people who raise deer for commercial purposes. NADeFA® is dedicated to the promotion of deer farming and ranching as an agricultural pursuit and serves its members through its educational programs and publications and by providing leadership in setting and maintaining quality standards.
What We Do
The North American Deer Farmers Association® exists to:
- establish, encourage and facilitate an exchange of ideas on breeding, handling and deer farm management among members
- promote deer farming and ranching and venison consumption in North America
- to acquire and distribute information on all aspects of deer farming and ranching to members
- provide a forum for the solution of deer farming and ranching challenges and to keep members informed regarding the implementation of such solutions
- represent the deer farming and ranching industry to all levels of government, to livestock producers and to other related organizations
- provide a registry for privately-owned cervidae
- establish and promote ethical standards of conduct and husbandry in deer farming and ranching
- establish, promote and actively market standards for deer and deer products
