The Australian niche deer meat farming industry faces challenges, including the new Biosecurity Protection Levy contributing only 0.0005% of the total cost, equating to $265 annually. This is part of the industry's larger problems, such as the cessation of local abattoirs killing live deer, leaving farmers unable to process their animals efficiently and financially strained. The industry also struggles with decreased demand due to restaurant closures during the pandemic and competition from commercial harvesters, who do not bear the same costs as farmers. Additionally, the deployment of commercial harvesters for state-funded deer eradication efforts exacerbates the financial pressure on deer farmers, who are concerned about the potential for reputational damage from wild deer ingesting chemicals and are seeking to be excluded from the levy scheme to prevent competitive disadvantage. Feral deer populations in Australia are expanding, causing significant damage to the environment and agriculture, with an estimated 118,000 deer harvested in Victoria alone in 2021.