Great rain the last week, much needed after a dry October early November. 100 mls over the weekend and 10-15 everyday since. Will keep these guys going into the new year. ... See MoreSee Less
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Hiwiroa Shorthorns shared Angus Australia/ New England Travel Trans-Tasman Exchange 2018's post.
1 month ago
Great to have Steph visit and discuss genetics that we are both using.So my time on the North Island has come to an end, with a busy few days in the Hawkes Bay Region.
First stop visiting Patrick & Issy Crawshaw, who have just purchased their first property in the last few months. After a quick farm tour & listening to their plans for the property in regards to pasture improvement & running their own of stud Angus cattle. I am excited to see what they can achieve in the future. I honestly can’t thank Pat enough as this trip would not have been possible without his assistance & knowledge of the New Zealand beef industry, allowing me to connect with so many passionate operators here in NZ.
Next stop was Hallmark Angus owned & operated by the Tweedie Family. I met Max when he was on the NZ Trans-Tasman Exchange to Australia in 2012. Running 180 stud breeders, Max utilises a mix of NZ genetics combined with leading sires from Australia & the USA producing cattle which are functional, with plenty of shape, which can be seen through his R1 Bull & heifer crop. Again I can’t thank Max enough for his assistance in organising this trip!! Also I’m extremely thankful to Max’s parents Andrew & Rose for taking me into their home & making me feel like a member of the family.
As a few of you may know that my family breeds purebred Shorthorn cattle along with commercial Shorthorn Angus Cross, so a trip across the ditch wouldn’t be complete without seeing some red, white & roans!! A massive thank you to Nick Symes of Hiwiroa Shorthorns for showing me you’re operation. It was great to see Australian genetics being used to produce an impressive line of R1 Bulls & moderate structurally correct females which can handle the hilly country!
From there it was down to Wellington to catch my flight to the South Island, with a quick stop at HiFarm Dairy managed by Bill Jamieson. Milking 80 head twice a day in their newly developed 60 bay rotating dairy. With a very limited dairy knowledge it was interesting to learn how this dairy was run & how environmental policies play a huge roll in how dairy land can be operated. HiFarm is currently a fully self sufficient system producing all their own feed supplement, along with raring replacement females & bull calves to the 100 day mark, which are then taken to another property to be raised upto 2 year olds for NZ Bull Beef market.
So after 1983 kilometres tracking across the North Island, we’re off to the South Island to visit the Reimink & Reed family’s before heading into Canterbury Show.
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