There are 14 bulls available at the sale, which starts at 11.30am at the Strahan Land Company at Kiwitea.
Sourced from prominent studs from the North and South islands, the bulls have been grazing on the Strahan property for three and a half months to create a level playing field.
“The bulls are looking great despite the adverse weather – no rain, no grass – showing how great the Hereford breed is under all sorts of conditions,” Hereford show and sales committee chairman Robert Kane said.
The bulls’ genetics suit the many different New Zealand beef breeding programmes with 70% having below-average gestation length EBVs, 65% with below-average birth weight EBVs, 80% having 600-day weight EBVs in the top 30% for the breed and 80% having above-average EMA, with 65% in the top 30% of breed.
“A high proportion are performance bulls with top carcase and growth genetics,” he said.
“Some are curve benders (low birth weight EBV to high 600-day weight) and some are ideal for heifer mating or breeding bulls for the dairy market.”
A parade at 9.30am will be followed by a paddock inspection and judging results.
The AgInnovation conference, at the Awapuni racecourse on Thursday from 10am to 9pm, starts with a keynote presentation from NZ Merino’s Hadleigh Smith titled Can Strong Wool Surf the Merino Wave? He will talk about the recent wool surfboard innovation and other potential future uses for wool composite technology and what that could mean for the global market for NZ wool.
Workshops include Geordie McCallum from Wairarapa Property Consultants on how to manage a farm business succession and transition, insights from B+LNZ national beef genetics manager Max Tweedie on the B+LNZ beef genetics project, B+LNZ global market intelligence and research manager Hugh Good on the development of the Taste Pure Nature brand in California and AgResearch senior scientist David Stevens discussing the feasibility of virtual fencing for beef cattle on hill country.
Attracting and retaining talented staff is an ongoing challenge for the sheep and beef industry and the conference ends with an evening meal and panel discussion chaired by Farmers Weekly columnist Steve Wyn-Harris that will look problems behind the staffing shortage along with advice on how to achieve buy-in from staff.
