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Christmas tree farms, pick-your-own fruit and vegetable operations, vineyards, organically-grown beef, poultry, and lamb, shiitake mushroom farms, and truck gardens growing traditional and exotic produce for direct sales to consumers. But until Mr. Graage brought his fallow deer to Rappahannock County this winter, no one was actively pursuing deer farming.
“There may be one of two fallow deer that were brought here in the back of a trailer, but this is the first real deer farming that I know of in the state. It is extremely exciting,” said Andy Hankins, the Virginia Extension Service’s alternative agriculture specialist based at State University in Petersburg.
Mr. Hankins hopes soon to have a test herd of fallow deer at SU's Randolph Farm for veterinary, biological, and economic studies. He thinks venison could be another specialty crop for Virginia farmers who want a broader product list for the lucrative restaurant trade.
“I don’t see deer meat being widely available in supermarkets. It’s a pricey item, more for the specialty gourmet shops and bigger chains and the white-tablecloth type restaurants,” said Mr. Hankins. “But farmraised venison is fine textured and really delicious so there’s an awful lot of consumption in those restau
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