Week 2- Part 2

 

Alan, Myself and Michele

 

My weekend continued at Atahua with Bex and Kirsten; daughters of Alan and Michele planned a trip for us go to Taihape and visit Ohinewairoa station. After feeding out in the morning with Michele, Bex and I headed north later in the day to check out the town of Taihape and then meet up with Kirsten’s partner Sam who is head Shepard at Ohinewairoa. As well as looking around the surrounding area we got to see Sam’s Huntaway puppies during our stay at the station.

Feeding out

 

 

Atahua bulls sold at the start of June

 

Puppies at Ohinewairoa 

Kirsten

Bex

So cute!!

Off to work!

 

 On the way back to Kiwitea we detoured via Gravity Valley and checked out the thrill seeking tourist attraction. The bungy jump is 80m off the bridge and the flying fox reaches speeds up to 160km/hour; needless to say I bailed pretty quickly and didn’t take part in the activities. Stopping at many lookouts along the way back Bex was an excellent tour guide showing me around the local area, returning to Atahua late Sunday afternoon.

Gravity Canyon

The view from above

Stoney Point Lookout

 

Monday I set off early from Atahua heading to Wellington to catch the ferry to the South Island. I got the chance to see some beautiful scenery on the ferry and around the sounds (area leading into Picton) of Picton.  My next visit was Woodbank Angus, Clarence River. On my way there I stopped over at the seal colony at Kaikoura. The young seals head upstream to a waterfall which is an area protected from the sea and bad weather; here they spend up to three days waiting for the mothers to return from hunting in the mean time they enjoy playing and sunbaking. This was quite an experience being able to get so close to the cubs and them not being phased at all. 

 

Heading out of Wellington

On the morning run to Wellington

Picton

Chilling out on a Monday

Testing for TB was conducted the following day at Woodbank with the technician out injecting the small amount of antigen under the skin, this is done every year as the surrounding area is endemic to bovine TB. Three days later she would return to check for reactions  to the test, these can range anywhere from a pea size lump up to the size of a grapefruit. If you are interested in understanding more about bovine TB follow this link; http://www.tbfree.org.nz/what-is-tb.aspx

As well as doing the TB testing we took tail samples from the 210 cows to put on file. The afternoon consisted of upkeep of ear tags that had aged or fallen out and finally returning the cows to a fresh paddock. Additionally John showed me the property which included very steep hill country rolling right down to the beach front. This was quite an odd concept to come to terms with! The Woodbank sale this year in June offered 58 bulls to average $6,327 topping at $12,500.

Woodbank



Woodbank

 

 

 

                                        Week 3 coming soon!

 

Week 2 - Part 1

 

 

Sunday evening I arrived at Atahua Angus owned by Alan and Michele Dalziell. The stud consists of 140 cows running on the main property located at Kiwitea with an additional 50 cows run at the Apiti property. Combined the properties cover 1300ac and in addition to the stud they also run 3600 sheep.

Apiti

I spent the next two and a half days with the Dalziell’s looking through the herd and getting the chance to see some outstanding females! Consistency in structure, volume and punch was present throughout the females. There was a definite type of easy doing naturally thick cattle that were very impressive on the hill country.

Moving between breaks

Best moment ever!

Heifers on Swedes.

 

As well as looking through the herd we had some time indoors with some nasty weather hanging around. Michele found the recording of the sale of Atahua Legacy 26-90 in 1992, who still holds the Australasian record for highest priced bull at $155,000. We discussed additional successes throughout their career including sending one of the last few live export animals to Australia purchased by Stephen and Noeleen Branson. Atahua Alice 115-90; was the beginning of the Banquet stud and won at various shows including Melbourne Royal.

In this year’s annual sale Atahua offered 41 bulls gaining 100% clearance and an average of $7792, with Atahua 848 selling for $45,000 to Mangapapa Angus.

 

 On Wednesday afternoon I headed off to meet Ed Sherriff of Pine Park Angus at Marton. Here I learnt more in regard to the TB (bovine terberculosis) testing side of the equation with the vet check taking place the next morning as the injection of the mild dose of TB took place three days earlier. Through this I was able to see all the cattle over two on the property with Ed being a strong believer of running the stud under commercial conditions. The area Pine Park is based only requires TB checks to take place every three years with everything over the age of two being checked. This is in comparison to areas that are high risk and everything from weaning age up has to be tested every year. The Pine Park sale this year topped at $9,000 to average $5,021 selling a total of 33 bulls.



A bull sold at the Pine Park sale earlier in the year.



Thursday afternoon I travelled to catch up with Forbes and Christine Cameron. The Cameron’s run 500 stud Angus and Salers as well as 6200 ewes on Ngaputahi Station at Ashurst. The stock are run under complete commercial conditions with their aim to have minimum input to produce maximum output on the medium to difficult hill country. Bulls sold are expected to perform under poor conditions and when sold to clients, reports back have found that they outperform other bulls when various bulls from different studs are put into the same conditions.

Friday morning was an early start drenching the spring bulls over two properties. The frosty start was worth getting up for to see the skill of the dogs working mobs off the steep faces of the hills on the way to the yards. We travelled over some incredibly steep country in the hunt to see some amazing views at the highest point on the station, catching some snow on the mountain peaks which had been the most I’ve seen in my travels thus far.

 

Below you'll find photos that cover Friday's events.

A chilly Friday morning.

Heading to the yards.

 

 

The beautiful view!

 

 

 

                   Keep a look out for the second half of the second week to be posted soon!

 

 

 

 

Week 1

What a week to begin my New Zealand exchange!

On the 23rd of June I flew into Wellington to encounter my first overseas trip. As daunting as this was I was reassured by many that this would be a trip of a lifetime.

From Wellington I hired a car and drove  3 ½ hours north to Napier, Hawke’s Bay where I met up with Max Tweedie, who would host me for the initial few days of my exchange.  The next morning Max and I travelled 2 hours further north to Tahaenui Station, Wairoa where the Cricklewood Angus Stud is based. Tahaenui Station is approximately 2000ac running commercial cows, ewes and fat lambs as well as 180 Cricklewood stud cows.

This was an amazing eye opener into different type of country New Zealand producers are taking on. The picturesque country side with vast hills surrounding the valleys demonstrated that there was more to it than first thought. Over my visit I gained further understanding into the challenges beef producers are faced with regarding sky rocketing returns within the dairy industry. The highly productive flats are being snapped up by dairy, and for every dairy converted, requires a further two support properties for additional grazing and growing out. Beef producers are therefore being forced into the steeper country and the cattle are required to perform under the pressures of these harsh environments. Below are some photo taken at Tahaenui Station.



Tahaenui Station, Crickewood stud bulls and cows in the background



Cricklewood spring J drop heifers

Cricklewood spring J drop bull calves

One of the Cricklewood bred bulls to be used within the commercial herd



Looking out onto the Mahia Peninsula from Tahaenui Station

A favourite activity of John's is his Clydesdales, these beautiful animals accompany his extensive cart collection which are brought out on special occasions.



Very friendly that's for sure!

Tuesday afternoon we travelled to Turihaua Angus for their bull sale. Turihaua is the oldest established stud in New Zealand and exhibited a consistent line up for the commercial cattleman that are made to last with longevity a key objective within the Williams’s operation.  73 bulls were sold with 100 percent clearance topping at $12,000 with an average of $8,065.

The Gisborne combined bull sale featured Cricklewood Angus, Tangihau Angus, Alpine Angus and Kenhardt Angus. I don’t think I have ever seen a sale barn so packed before with people having to stand outside due to it being so full. Tangihau took out the prestigious Wonder Cup for another year, a competition of the ‘best bull’ of the sale winning the right to be sold first on the day. Tangihau featured again gaining the top price of the day of $45,000. The sale had full clearance with the four studs gaining respectable averages for the bulls sold.

In the afternoon we travelled south to attend the Turiroa sale a total of 44 bulls were sold averaging $8,350 with the top price of $30,000. Another sale with a strong following the stands again being completely full and buyers were not afraid to put their hand in the pocket to get the right bull. It was an eventful day and a half travelling to the final sales of the North Island, gaining perspective into the local area and the bulls being produced.

At Turihaua Stud on Tuesday afternoon

   The adventure hadn’t finished yet, Max and I travelled to the farm where he grew up on Thursday at Tutira.  We had been blessed with amazing weather making the time spent at Mokara Farm  quite pleasant, perfect for having a look around and the spot sightseeing on the way back to Napier as shown below.

Bulls purchased at the recent sales



Replacement ewes



Yards at Mokara



Lake Tutira

Hanging out with the Locals

    I met up with Richard Rowe Merchiston Angus, on Friday at the Fielding Saleyards. We watched on as his R2 (rising 2 yr old) steers sold for above average prices with a solid kick in the market present in both cattle and sheep during the weeks sale. We went on to the Tararua Breeding Centre that afternoon paying a visit to Merchiston Generate 243. Generate was the National Angus Champion and Reserve Champion All Breeds at Beef Expo this year and was purchased by the Cricklewood Stud at Wairoa for $17,000

  Over the weekend Richard showed me around his property at Marton.  The diverse enterprise established in 1955 takes into account stud females, cropping, stud sheep a fat lamb operation as well as selling 50 rising 2 yr olds and 30 yearling bulls per year.  This year Merchiston offered 46 bulls; the sale topped at $11,500 and averaged $5602.

Front paddock

Merchiston CRUZE 281. Cruze has been kept to use within the stud

Merchiston Spring drop J bulls

 

 Merchiston Persuade 448 son of Merchiston Outlook 179

 Merchiston Spring drop J bulls

Merchiston Spring J drop Heifers

Enjoying the serenity 

 

Whilst looking around we discussed the high expectations he places on the females in the herd. Fertility is at the top of the list closely followed by performance. Rowe’s also have a satellite herd at Rangiwahia run by Mike and Kate Gee-Taylor. There are an additional 60 stud cows which they buy all the bull calves back to run at the main property. 

  Beautiful views in the hill country

Mike and the family's pet pig Crackle

 Mike, Richard and Vicki

Mike and I

From here I will move onto Atahua Angus, where I’ll be spending a few days with Michele and Alan Dalziell, I look forward to sharing with you the next adventures of my exchange.


Watch this space!