Elk antlers provide health, healing to humans

By Starrla Cray
The Land Correspondent

February 01, 2008 03:17 am

— Elk antlers are put to good use on Brenda and Lance Hartkopf’s Splendor Ridge Elk Farm in Howard Lake. The Hartkopf family sells the antlers in their soft “velvet” stage for medicinal purposes.
“The antlers begin growing in the spring,” Brenda said. “In June, when they’re about half done growing, we have to decide if we’re going to harvest them or let them grow out.” If they let the antlers grow, the bulls are sold for hunting.
In June, the antlers are soft and porous, and the outsides are just starting to calcify. This is the perfect time to harvest, because the inside is still marrow. The marrow is the part that is used for medicinal purposes.
Hartkopf said they harvested 500 pounds of velvet antler last summer. They decided to sell 17 of the males as shooter bulls. “This year was a good year for velvet,” Hartkopf said. The price was $30 per pound, twice as much as last year. “The market fluctuates because it’s dependent on so many factors.”
“When we harvest the antlers, we leave about one and a half inches on their heads. ... If it’s cut too short it can damage the nerves.” After the antler is harvested, it is immediately put in the freezer. Later, a buyer will come and pick up the antlers.
Although the Hartkopfs sell most of the velvet antlers to a buyer, they sell some of their product directly.
“We kept back about 40 pounds last year,” she said. After bringing it to a person with a dryer, they let the antlers dehydrate for eight weeks. When the drying process is complete, the outer layer is peeled off and the inside is sent to a facility to be pulverized, capsuled and bottled. The bottles are then brought back to the farm, where Hartkopf sells them.
“Most of our customers take it to relieve arthritis and joint problems. There are also athletes who take it. It seems to help weightlifters and marathon runners recover quicker,” she said. “I sometimes ship out cases at a time.” Hartkopf said her husband uses velvet antler for increased energy.
According to the Agricultural Marketing Resource website, velvet has been used as a natural medicine for more than 2,000 years in Asia. It is used for improving metabolism, enhancing immunity, reducing inflammation and improving blood, kidney and liver function. It is also being researched as a wound-healing product.
An average 2-year-old bull will produce nine pounds of velvet per year, while mature bulls may give 30 to 40 pounds, according to the Minnesota Elk Association website.
“The nice thing about velveting is that you can keep doing it every year,” Hartkopf said.
With 260 elk breeders, Minnesota is among the top states for velvet antler production, according to a press release from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. In 2007, more than a third of the total U.S. velvet antler production came from Minnesota.
Elk has the benefit of having multiple markets. In addition to velvet, it can be sold for breeding stock, meat or trophy hunting.
“One of the biggest reasons we like having an elk farm is because there is so much we can do with it,” Hartkopf said. If prices are low in one of the markets, the elk can still be used for other purposes.

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