Stag do: Waipawa herd's conga line lifts Hawke's Bay farmers' spirits

A small herd of stags "asserting their dominance" at Forest Road Farm- NZ Red Deer in Waipawa. Photo / Grant Charteris

Farmers in drought-stricken Hawke's Bay are smiling and laughing again, not because it's raining, but because of one man's photo of stags at their boisterous best.

Grant Charteris who owns Forest Road Farm - NZ Red Deer, captured the velvet underground moment on his farm at near Waipawa on Sunday.

Charteris said he'd just fed out maize and grain to the herd as a supplementary feed when the conga line began and the photo opportunity "presented itself".

"The picture is of four mixed aged stags asserting their dominance at the end of the roar period, when stags have a rise in testosterone levels over the mating period."

"It is something that you tend to see on occasion at this time of year."

Forest Road Farm - NZ Red Deer have a red deer stud and produce deer for sale with a focus on velvet production.

Charteris said the challenges over the recent months in Hawke's Bay are not over yet.

"It has turned into a green drought now," he said. "It is way too late for any grass growth here at our altitude.

"It is going to be a long winter with a hell of a lot more feeding out to come."