Cows show no change in quality from 15 months to 15 years. There is also a significant undesirable darkening of meat from older bulls.įemales produce excellent meat even at an advanced age if their body condition is good and they have been in a weight gain phase before slaughter. Venison quality tests, when based on physical testing of tenderness, juiciness and colour, and supported by consumer perception show there is an appreciable decline in tenderness in males older than three years. Slaughter & processing (HACCP accreditation of slaughter and processing plants)Įlk and deer can yield significantly higher ratios of live weight to carcass weight, and meat to bone and fat compared with beef and they yield substantially more from the higher value parts of the carcass - the loin or saddle, and hindquarters.īody confirmation is virtually the same for all breeds of elk and red deer, although New Zealand research has shown red/elk hybrids show appreciably higher yields for loin and hindquarters at an earlier weight for age.Transportation of both elk and processed product (properly trained transport operators).On-farm production (on-farm food safety and quality assurance).The product must meet the highest standards of: These standards aim to set the farm-raised product as a superior product, separate from the traditional consumer perception of wild-shot venison.
ELK MEAT FOR SALE PROFESSIONAL
This strategy involves professional chefs and food distributors promoting the product and educating consumers until the volume of supply can satisfy the demand of retail outlets where use and preparation methods are more variable.īecause of its market positioning and relative scarcity, buyers of elk expect a consistently high standard of supply and product that meets rigid specifications in terms of: While its nutritional advantages make it potentially valuable in a health-conscious, “heart smart” dietary role, most farm-raised wapiti suppliers are currently marketing at top of the range prices to the culinary hospitality trade. It is important, however, to distinguish the farming process from the product and its marketing. Support and promotion of the product and its versatility, quality and excellence, are as much a part of elk raising as quality feeding and handling. Successful elk farming doesn’t stop at the farm gate.
Appreciation for farm-raised wapiti is something most consumers need education and coaxing to develop. But education is needed to change the perception of hunted venison as a tough, dry, gamey, and inconsistent product. Suppliers of farmed elk meat are fortunate that their product naturally fits the optimum nutritional profile of currently recommended diets. Farmers with that prior knowledge can stream this type of animal into the processed chain for value-added products such as sausage, salami, smoked hams, and processed meats where some fat may be an advantage. Mature elk can be appreciably fatter than live weight guidelines recommend (Figure 3). Younger animals display the most desirable carcass composition. They should be young (ideally less than 30 months of age) and selected for rapid growth rate and superior muscle conformation. Producers must ensure that if the market emphasis is on leanness and tenderness the animals put forward for slaughter must qualify. This may be desirable from a nutritional standpoint, but that high iron/hemoglobin content along with their practise of “wet-ageing’ in vacuum pacs tends to make venison taste coppery and feel like the liver. Red deer venison and particularly the New Zealand product has a much higher iron content than North American wapiti. Wapiti meat has one distinct advantage over New Zealand red deer venison or Cervena in its texture. Most of our current knowledge of venison qualities is based on information from New Zealand regarding red deer, but most of the information is applicable also to farmed elk. There is a distinct advantage to selling as “elk” or “wapiti” rather than generic “venison”, since the supply of elk is more limited, and the name venison is commonly associated either with the variable quality of hunter-killed wildlife or with imported red deer venison. Elk meat may be sold as “elk” or as “wapiti”. North American Elk farmers are still developing the business of a consistent supply of quality meat products for the food and hospitality trade.
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