New Zealand-Hereford Cattle.

NEW ZEALAND-HEREFORD CATTLE.

Herford cattle handle the difficult conditions on the outer slopes of Banks Peninsula particularly well, says Bill Oborne, who farms The Heads near Akaroa. The 880ha sheep and beef farm, so named because it is at the seaward end of Akaroa Harbour, was bought by Bill’s parents, who ran a Hereford stud there.

The stud was deregistered in 1989 because they weren’t selling enough bulls to justify it, but the core bloodlines remain in today’s commercial herd.

"My parents enjoyed breeding and they left us with a good base,’’ Bill said.

Bill and Charlotte Oborne’s farm is made up of three easy ridge lines dropping away to steep gullies.

A tractor can get over some of the country and they usually make over 250 round bales of hay – but not this season because of the dry summer.

The breeding cattle herd is stable at about 200 straight Herefords, plus 30 to 60 rising two-year heifers which are mated at 15 months to calve as two-year-olds.

"We need 30 to maintain the herd, but will calve more. If they are not sold for breeding we can cull those that have performed less well as they will still grade as heifers.’’

First calvers and what he calls a terminal mob are mated to a black bull at about 15 to 18 months. Angus bulls are used for hybrid vigour, and the first-cross calves are well sought after.

While 60 heifer calves are put to the bull, the remaining 60 are fattened to 200kg cw for the local trade. They are a mob that doesn’t get priority until they are close to leaving, when the top animals are drafted on to a finishing paddock. They are killed at 18 to 22 months, and the last ones leave the property in late winter.

Most of the steer calves are sold as weaners at nine months, while about 25 bull calves are wintered and sold as yearling or two-year-old bulls. They are sold to local beef and dairy farmers. The two-year-olds mostly go to dairy farmers on the Canterbury Plains.

Weaners are generally sold on a per kilogram basis on the property. "The reason for that is it takes the variability out of Canterbury Park (saleyards), and I know what price we’re getting before they go. It tends to be an average price, but I’d rather have control.’’

Currently he buys Hereford bulls from Dave Morrow’s Okawa stud at Mount Somers.

He usually buys one beef bull a year, and has three of his own bred bulls on the place at the moment. "I quite enjoy selecting my own bull because you get to see it grow from day one until you start using it, and its mother will have proved her performance on our property.

"When you buy in a bull, you’ve just got EBVs and what you see on the day, so selecting the right breeder is important.’’

Bill Oborne said the former Hereford stud on the farm was a good base to start the current herd from. "Why change? We’re definitely into the Herefords and enjoy breeding them.’’

The temperament of the Herefords is excellent, he said, and they don’t keep any Hereford replacements which show signs of unsuitable temperament.

For Bill, who works by himself for about half the year, good temperament among the cows makes life much easier.

The Herefords handle the tough conditions well, he said. "Rarely do we have enough feed. When we do have a good spring flush they can put that fat on their back and then we can utilise that through the winter.’’

Longevity is good within the cow herd, and the calving percentage averages about 90 per cent. He said some shepherding during calving pays off. This includes feeding hay and rescuing calves that have fallen down a bank.

"On the hill it’s so easy for them to disappear, especially when the weather’s not good.’’

Besides the cattle, the Oborne’s run about 2000 Perendale ewes and 500 replacement hoggets. They are mated to Perendale rams and Texel terminal sires.

In the last few years they have managed to fatten about 50 per cent of the lambs, with the remainder usually sold through Silver Fern Farms Lambplan.