A good source of beef cattle genetics for the steep, hill country of the East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island would be two studs I visited up there a couple of weeks ago.
This isolated corner is relatively undisturbed by the three things which I have noticed in much greater numbers since I was last in New Zealand 18 years ago: Dairy Cows, Tourists ...and Hobbits.
It's not for the lack of scenery, but perhaps the hills are a bit steep and dry for both the cows and the Hobbits.
This isolated corner is relatively undisturbed by the three things which I have noticed in much greater numbers since I was last in New Zealand 18 years ago: Dairy Cows, Tourists ...and Hobbits.
It's not for the lack of scenery, but perhaps the hills are a bit steep and dry for both the cows and the Hobbits.
The Williams family first came to the area as missionaries in the 1840’s with James Williams purchasing the 2000ha Turihau property, just North of Gisborne in the 1890’s and establishing the now world-famous Angus stud in 1906. Turihau Angus has the feeling of being ‘in with the bricks’ of farming in this area, and I got the impression that much of the success of the herd was built around a long-standing, careful breeding program that was in the safe hands of experienced cattlemen together with a reputation for fair trading and thoughtful concern for the production of profitable, quality beef from the whole of the area. Up in these steep hills cattle have to be sure-footed as mountain goats – and any structural faults just won’t stand the pace of grazing on such rugged terrain. Robust and balanced - that sums up the Turihau cattle – they are blocky cattle with quite strong bone structure, feminine necks and shoulders, deep ribbed and big capacity, they have great length of hip, but not long bodies. ‘A cow should be fertile in her own environment, and be structurally sound to have longevity – and a steer should be 600kg at 2 years old. It’s not much more complicated than that.’ Explains Hamish Williams. And by fertile, he really means fertile – heifers must calve at 2yo and re-breed every year, all in a 6 week bulling period. With 400 -450 cows run, and about 100 heifers coming into the herd each year, there is a big fall-out – but that is what the breeding program is based on: ‘You’ve got to pressurise your cows in your environment in order to identify the ones that can stand up to it and perform’, explains Hamish. EBVs are an integral part of their breeding program, but don’t drive it. Paul is looking for Calving Ease, a moderate Mature Weight and good scrotal size as a fertility indicator. Average milk is important, carcase traits are interesting – and some growth if you can get it once the rest is sorted. ‘The message to commercial bull buyers has to be Average Performance is OK it means you are less likely to stuff up your breeding herd,’ says Paul. |
There are two reasons the East Coast is isolated – the road in, and the road out. The narrow, twisting road about the town of Wairoa is tortured by steep, rocky country and deep gullies leading ruthlessly right to the shore, leaving no clear path through. A half hour drive up a back road shows no tempering of the terrain in-land, and brought me to Tangiwai Station. In contrast to the Williams family, Jon Knauff has come into stud breeding only 10 years ago. Simmentals had performed well in their commercial herd, so he thought he’d try a few stud cows, but John doesn’t come across as someone who would test the water by dipping his toe in – so he bought 500 cows from studs across New Zealand! He has a very similar philosophy to Turihau – he’s looking for a bit more performance, but then he’s working in a different genetic pool, so 'average' is different. Calving at 2yo with a 6 week bulling period for heifers – he retains about 100 heifers and culls hard on the 500 cow herd. “You’ve get to test your genetics by putting pressure on your cow herd, and making sure they do all the things they really need to do. After that, it’s about selecting for performance – but not blindly – pick the things you need to get better at. We want cattle that get to 600kg as quickly as possible, but not to get any bigger than that. With Simmental, average milk is fine; average calving ease is fine for cows, but I’d be looking for a good EBV there in a bull for heifer mating.” There is a new sale-ring in construction at Tangiwai – where the Knauffs hope to sell their usual 50 bulls this year. ‘We calf late and sell early – so bulls are 18-20 month ‘2 year-olds’ – at this stage there is no hiding the genetics with feed, I’ve got to get the bulls right. Don’t get me wrong – I feed these sale bulls hard.’ Jon looks at me as I raise an eyebrow… ‘They are grown-out off-farm on a block of flat land by the coast – they are on grass/clover there’, he explains awkwardly. When I push him on this subject he says: “Look – New Zealand farmers aren’t ready to want the kind of bulls that they need yet.” When it comes to a bull sale, size and condition matters, as does growth and bigger performance numbers. Jon has an infectious enthusiasm for breeding cattle, but he has had to learn about selling bulls and breed association politics in a short time. When I asked him what he thought made a ‘good’ stud breeder he explained ‘having a clear commercial direction, and freedom from stud-breeder baggage’. From his viewpoint as a newcomer to the stud sector, he sees too many complications getting in the way of what is basically a simple process – commercially relevant performance, tested in an appropriate environment. For the East Coast, that is a fertile, functional cow which will grow a steer to 600kg, and the environment is steep and tough - but the views are great! |
It has become quite clear to me that performance recording is a great tool to help a breeder maintain a trait, or move it in a particular direction. The skill of the breeder is in having the vision to know which direction, and more importantly at what point is ‘far enough’.