The Venison Advisory Service Ltd (VAS) is a consultancy established specifically to provide support and advice to those considering setting up a commercial deer farm as a business venture or an additional revenue stream.

VAS also offers advice to the wild venison sector in assessing opportunities for local processing and supply, infrastructure development and marketing.

Scotland is a major supplier to the UK and European markets, with an estimated out-turn of some 3,500 tonnes per annum, the majority of this coming from the wild red deer cull.

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Market data (June 2019) from the Scottish Venison Association is available here.

The first Scottish venison strategy Beyond the Glen (2018) has been updated and a refreshed strategy Revisiting Beyond the Glen was launched in November 2023.

The drive towards healthier eating, greater awareness of venison as a healthy food, and increasing interest from Scottish Government and its agencies for development in this area all present an encouraging backdrop. Scottish venison also already enjoys an enviable reputation and an excellent image not just in the UK but further afield.

The NatureScot target to increase Scotland’s annual cull of wild deer by 50,000 over five years and maintain it at this higher level for a further period has prompted VAS to expand its scope of advice to assist and support initiatives looking to increase output of wild product, the development of local processing, chills and butchery, and the assessment of local opportunities for marketing.

For deer farming Scotland has a mix of suitable terrain, ideal climate, access to quality stock and access to markets. Indeed, Scotland pioneered the concept of deer farming in the 1970s, although it has never developed here on the same commercial scale as it has in, for example, New Zealand.

The Venison Advisory Service provides quality, experienced project-led advice and consultancy to those looking at deer farming as a commercial, revenue-generating opportunity, not just in Scotland but across the UK or internationally.

Find out more about the services the Venison Advisory Service has to offer to those wishing to get started in deer farming or set up a venison business using a wild supply.

The VAS starter guide to deer farming and deer park management, produced as a part of the Scottish Government funded Deer Farm and Park Demonstration Project (which ran in 2015/2016) is available here .