We enjoyed a beautiful fall morning visiting Whitetail Farms!
The Leenderts family has owned and operated Whitetail Farms for the past 12 years, following several previous business ventures. Greg shared that one of the greatest benefits of business ownership is the freedom and flexibility of being his own boss. As an avid deer hunter, he also enjoys continually learning about deer and applying that knowledge to his business.
Greg gave our group an inside look at the deer breeding industry, including deer nutrition and the farm's partnership with Purina to develop an optimal feed formula. Whitetail Farms is a USDA-certified deer operation and has been recognized as one of the Top 30 deer breeders in the United States.
We learned about several fascinating aspects of the industry, including artificial insemination, deer genetics and DNA, breeding regulations and compliance, and the unique challenges of working with animals that are naturally high-strung and easily stressed.
One particularly interesting innovation came from Greg and his sons. Because deer must be sedated before receiving medication or undergoing procedures such as artificial insemination, traditional scopes can be unreliable. Working together, they developed a specialized scope algorithm designed to improve accuracy and efficiency when tranquilizing deer. Greg is now working with Garmin to explore making this technology available to other deer breeders.
Whitetail Farms currently sells deer in 27 states, giving us a glimpse into the reach and complexity of this unique industry.
Beyond the business side of the visit, we also enjoyed seeing the many other animals on the farm!
A big thank-you to Greg for welcoming our group, sharing his knowledge, and exposing our young professionals to such a unique and interesting business. We appreciate the opportunity to learn about an industry many of us knew very little about!
Did you know? If deer breeders want to insure their deer, they need to turn to Lloyd's of London for coverage. What an interesting fact to wrap up our visit!
