Steven is the youngest of five boys brought up in a South Otago farming family and his siblings are all still involved in the agricultural sector in some way.
After a year at Telford, he worked on farms for several years before heading to Canada and England on an 18-month agricultural exchange. It was an eye-opener for a “shy little South Otago country boy” who had rarely been off-farm.
Returning home, he joined the shearing industry as a presser, thinking he would be there for a few months. He ended up shearing for a decade and managing shearing runs.
Keen for a change, the Grants bought Big River Deer, a small operation with two trucks, based in Balclutha, in 2000. They operated that for 11 years before merging with Otago Deer Transport in 2011.
While he was brought up on a sheep and beef farm, Grant had always loved deer and he had worked on deer farms before he went overseas. He also had some deer on the couple’s small property at Milton.
For a specialised deer transport business, it was not just about having drivers that could “drive up and down the highway”, they also had to be able to handle the animals.
Dave Affleck and Hamish McLauchlan, who are continuing with Downlands, had been an integral part of the business for many years and the Grants considered them family.
They all worked as a tight team, using casual staff when needed, and Sharon did all the administration work as her husband candidly admitted he would “sooner be driving a truck than a computer”.
“I could load deer and drive trucks all day,” he said.
When they started, the business covered South Otago but, as the deer industry grew, their operation grew to cover the lower South Island.
Asked if he had ever been tempted to diversify into other livestock transport, Steven said he felt there were already enough trucks carting sheep and cattle, that they would stick to being a specialist operation “and try and do it right”.
He also never wanted to have a large crew of staff, as he had been through that with shearing.
The couple would miss their clients, many of whom had become friends over the years, and they were grateful for the trust they had put in them with their livestock transportation.
It had been a pleasure dealing with them and, latterly, they were working with the next generation of their farming clients.
There had been various changes since they started in the business. Back then, it was “trendy” for city-dwelling business people to have money in deer in the country.
Now those who farmed deer were there because they were passionate about the industry.
Huge progress had also been made over the years in handling facilities and animal health and welfare.
Grant was pleased the couple made the decision to step back, saying he felt he had done his bit in the industry.
Seeing the staff and trucks carrying on meant a lot to him.
After taking a break, it was likely he would return to driving a truck, but without the responsibility associated with running a business, he said.
