“We are delighted with how the bulls are tracking, showing great growth and condition.”
Experience gained from the first two sales gave Bruce a better understanding of what bulls need and when they need it by so they are in prime condition at the time of the sale.
Bred on medium to steep hill country, Ngakouka cattle are not only strong and reliable they are street wise when it comes to hill country and coming off the property will be ready to go from the start, needing no conditioning.
Proven bloodlines are at the heart of the operation guaranteeing high-quality genetics.
Those genetics shone through at the recent Future Beef New Zealand Hoof and Hook competition, with Ngakouka picking up a swag of awards.
The Donalds put plenty of emphasis on the cattle’s structural conformation, soft skins and hair types and heavily muscled back ends in the belief those traits help produce easy doing and fleshy cattle.
Sires are selected with that type of animal in mind.
The dam line of a potential sire is assessed on fertility then EBVs are considered once the visual appraisal has been ticked off.
This year they had one dry cow out of 110, with five sets of twins.
EBV traits looked at seriously are milk, fats and scrotum size because they have a big influence on other EBVs, which means selecting those first will benefit the rest.
All annual calf drops are DNA profiled, which guarantees parentage.
The DNA is also tested for tenderness gene markers with the bulls being used at Mironui scoring extremely high.
It’s all very well having the scientific information but it’s what you do with it that’s important, Bruce said.
There’s got to be some science behind it all and Ngakouka Herefords uses that information to back up its ability to breed quality stock suited to the operation.
“You’ve got to look at the animal and the science and be confident in the type you want.”
Bruce is a strong believer in the qualities Herefords bring.
Not only are they excellent cattle to deal with and an absolute pleasure to handle, they tick a raft of commercial breeders’ boxes.
They are fertile with a great mothering ability and are excellent forages with sought-after carcase attributes.
“For commercial farmers, that’s what they want.”
All cows at Ngakouka are subject to the same pressures expected of any commercial cattle,
Apart from mating in the first two cycles and calving the cows have sheep in front or under them all year, which helps find the true performers, making culling easier.
The average price for bulls at Ngakouka’s first sale in 2017 was $4800, with heifers $2040. There was a total clearance of heifers and 17 of 19 bulls sold. The sale was well supported by both the Dannevirke community and beef breeders from Wairarapa, King Country and Hawke’s Bay.
The following year the 15 bulls were sold for an average of $5500 to Levin, Gisborne, Wairoa, Martinborough and Wellington buyers and others in between.
This year’s sale is expected to attract farmers from Gisborne and to Te Awamutu along with interest from the South Island.
It’s hoped the rise in the average sale price will continue.
Viewing for this year’s sale starts at 8am, with the sale to begin at 10am.
