Deer farms backed by healthy eating research.

Venison is good for you. Well, we knew that already, but it's always good to be reminded of things with the weight of academic research thrown behind what has been common knowledge for years.

And it seems that researchers have also found that it tastes good. So the hazard assessment for for this project probably went something along the lines of .....Eat lots of meat, suffer no ill effects... have a good kip.

The research was commissioned by DEFRA and the Scottish government, and led by the agricultural consultancy firm ADAS. It found amongst other things that loin of venison contains a third of the fat of a beef sirloin steak, and a quarter of that found in Lamb Chops.

There are around thirty thousand farmed deer in the UK, but as much is imported as we produce here. Mainly from New Zealand. According to Jane Emerson who rears both deer and Dexter cattle near Penrith in Cumbria, this is because domestic production simply hasn't been able to keep up with demand from consumers. She says that deer are easier to keep than cattle because they don't need to have their feed supplemented to get them to slaughter weight.

They're also marginally more profitable than cattle, but they are also quite capital intensive. For instance they need to have special fencing to keep them in... although one big advantage is that they can be slaughtered on farm. They are also a good alternative to sheep, although for upland farmers deer do need reasonably good grass to thrive so they're not suitable for the high moors.

Jane Emerson with some of her deer

The team at ADAS believes that the one thing which is stopping sales of venison from taking off is that people simply don't know enough about it and how to cook it. The health findings of the ADAS study come as no surprise to Jane Emerson. many of her customers are on low cholesterol diets, and deer is an obvious meet to eat.