New England Travel Centre and Angus Australia Trans-Tasman Scholarship | Personal blog

New England Travel Centre and Angus Australia Trans-Tasman Scholarship

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24.01.2022 For those of you who don't know me already, I'm Chloe Gould and I am the 2019 Angus Australia Trans-Tasman Scholarship recipient. I have grown up in the Angus breed, closely affiliated with Bowenfels Angus and have been an active member of Angus Youth in Australia for several years. I have participated in many youth events and was a member of the Angus Australia Youth Team which competed at the World Angus Forum in Scotland during 2017. Since completing university in 2016, I... have been employed with Teys Australia as a project manager (research and development), working on Objective Carcase Measurement Technologies and more recently, been involved with the start of Beef Automation. I'd like to thank Angus Australia and the New England Travel Centre for the opportunity to travel abroad to New Zealand and experience the industry across the Tasman. Feel free to follow me on my journey as I make my way through New Zealand!

20.01.2022 Thursday - Crossed the Island (via ferry) and headed South After 1100km in the North, I jumped on a ferry and crossed islands to head south. Beautiful scenery and a 3.5 hour boat trip! Even a few cows were onboard!

17.01.2022 Angus Australia is pleased to announce the 2019 Trans-Tasman Exchange recipient is Chloe Gould. Miss Gould was chosen out of a large number of keen applicants to be selected for the exchange, which is proudly sponsored by New England Travel Centre. Miss Gould was awarded the scholarship at the Special Dinner Dance at this year’s Thomas Foods International Angus Youth Roundup, after taking part in an interview process with the dedicated selection panel which included the 2018... recipient Steph Frankham. The exchange will see Miss Gould travel to New Zealand to visit with various Angus producers to experience farming processes within a different climate and landscape, one which is likely very different than her native Queensland. The two-week trip will see Miss Gould visit Angus studs and commercial operations, feedlots and attend field days and sales. Miss Gould looks forward to the opportunity to gain knowledge about the variance between Australian and New Zealander practices throughout the supply chain. I look forward to exploring different production systems and gain knowledge of their genetics, Miss Gould said. I also look forward to the opportunity to visit other production systems throughout the supply chain. I think it will be interesting to see if there is any comparisons or difference to what we do in Australia compared to New Zealand. The scholarship will give me the opportunity to make those overseas connections. 2018 Scholarship recipient Steph Frankham said that while the selection decision was close, Miss Gould was selected as a stand out from her counterparts. With our top three they were very, very close. However, it was Chloe’s passion and drive for what she does professionally within the beef industry, and her involvement with Angus Youth over a number of years that got her above the line, Miss Frankham said. I encourage Chloe not to limit herself during her time on exchange, taking in New Zealand agriculture is a whole over there rather than singling in to stud cattle, taking in venison to sheep and wool to dairy. Angus Australia Events and Youth Development Officer Candice Liddle said that the exchange will give Miss Gould the opportunity to observe the strength of the Angus breed globally. This exchange will give Chloe great insight into the New Zealand beef industry, and the opportunity to meet New Zealand Angus members to discuss and observe their own farming operations. See more

17.01.2022 Saturday saw me hit the windy roads of New Zealand! I spent the weekend getting my feet on the ground and exploring the country on the West Coast of the North island. Was a classic tourist on Sunday and checked out the Waitomo caves and the natural bridge. Before I made my journey to start looking at cows!

13.01.2022 Friday morning I travelled down through the bottom of the Awatere Valley, past the biggest station in New Zealand, Molesworth Station, covering 250,000 acres to reach Grampians Angus. Grampians Angus is family owned and operated by Jono and Sarah Reed. They run 400 females, 250 stud and PRAC females, and 150 commercial cows. A PRAC female is comparable to an APR Angus female in Australia. Moving forward, the Reed family have plans to shift towards running all stud females an...d increasing numbers for the annual bull sale. Grampians hold an annual bull sale in June, selling 40-50 two year old bulls. In their 2019 bull sale, the Reed family catalogued 47 bulls; of which, 64% were PRAC bulls. The sale was highly successful with a complete clearance, a top of $15,500 to a commercial herd and an average of $9651. The country at Grampians is typically quite rugged in comparison to some of the other places I have seen, with a number of steep hills that even their Merino sheep struggle to reach at times. Originally the property ran deer, as well as cattle and sheep. However they have moved away from the deer to increase sheep numbers. By doing this the management of stock types has become considerably easier. Both AI and sire bulls are used within the stud. Interestingly, a number of the sire bulls are used in conjunction with another Angus stud in the Awatere Valley prior to arriving back at Grampians. By doing this bulls are covering a large number of cows in a very short period of time, so sire fertility is paramount. I would like to thank Jono and Sarah for hosting and providing insight to your operation. It was interesting to see your country and gain an insight to your operation.

13.01.2022 Tuesday and Wednesday Glencorran Mike and Kate Gee-Taylor I spent Tuesday morning travelling down to Rangiwahia through Rotorua and Taupo to visit Mike and Kate Gee-Taylor whom have a commercial operation of 2000 sheep and 140 commercial cows over an area of 1500 acres. Additional to this Glencorran run a 90 stud female satellite herd for Merchiston Angus. The stud side of the Glencorran operation is quite an interesting business model. Richard Rowe from Merchiston Angus ...decides on the mating sires for the females each year, minimizing the pressure and stress on Mike and Kate. Additionally, all bull calves go back to Merchiston at weaning and join the rest of Merchiston Angus’ bull calves in the one mob. These bull calves are than grown and sold at the Merchistons Bull Sale during June as 2 year olds. The heifer calves remain at ‘Glencorran’ to be grown out. The bottom 20% of heifers (selected on phenotype) are sold directly to the processors. The remainder of the heifers are transported to ‘Merchiston’ to be AI’d as yearlings. AI is also being used in the mixed age cow herd, with 45 of the stud females being bred this way during spring. A range of sires are represented including some from New Zealand as well as a selection of international sires from both Australia and the United States. The terrain on ‘Glencorran’ itself provides challenges, as there is absolutely no flat ground at all to calve cows or graze weaners on. Mike and Kate recently acquired another 400 acres of predominantly flatter ground where they can grow baleage and fodderbeat to wean calves onto and raise their heifers. The steep country isn’t the easiest with quite a few environmental factors that need to be managed. One of the main environmental factors influencing the pastures at Glencorran would be a grub that influences the productivity on the wet and shaded southern facing slopes causing it to die. An effective method to reduce the lifecycle of the grub is to spray the country with a helicopter which is financially expensive. I would like to take this time to thank the Gee-Taylor family for hosting and providing insight to your operation! It was great to see different type of country and how this influences your management practices, and gain insight to your satellite herd! Ps. The Jetboat was awesome I am not sure of too many producers in Australia who would have the opportunity to run their boat down to the river at 7:30pm and go for a run, Thankyou!

11.01.2022 Monday Storth Oaks Tim and Kelly After meeting Tim in Scotland at the 2017 World Angus Forum, it was a delight to be able to visit Storth Oaks Angus in the Otorohanga area to further understand their operation. Tim and Kelly run closed herd of 300 Stud Females, placing major emphasis on biosecurity, in particular mycoplasma. To maintain this level of biosecurity they have utilized Artificial Insemination to breed all females in a fixed time AI program. Following 2 rounds ...of AI, all cows that are preg tested empty are sold direct to abattoirs. They also run 500 head of sheep, buying in 2 tooth ewe yearly and selling all lambs via direct consignment. All stock on Storth Oaks are run under commercial environment and pressure, which naturally places emphasis on good pasture and stock management. Fodder crops are utilized on Storth Oaks with approx. 80 ha planted annually including Fodderbeet and Kale. Bulls are weaned and prepared for sale onto fodder crops using monitored grazing management. Storth Oaks have an annual bull sale in May and catalogue 80-90 bulls and sell approx. another 30 bulls out of the paddock each year. They have a client base from quiet a large range, travelling from both East and West Coast areas. In 2019, 96.5% of the catalogued bulls in the Storth Oaks sale rate A or higher for the AngusPure Index. For bulls to rate A or higher, they must be $139 or more on the AngusPure Index. Tim is also the president of AngusPure and it has been a fantastic opportunity to gain knowledge and understanding of the development and progress of the AngusPure program and processing sector. It was interesting to talk about the supply chain with Tim and Kelly and understand the little information which is supplied back to a producer from a processor. To Tim and Kelly, I would like to express my gratitude to both of you and thank you for allowing me to gain further insight and knowledge about Storth Oaks operation and also the beef industry in New Zealand as a whole. We spoke a lot about the supply chain and it gives me great pleasure to keep in touch and up to date with the progress of Storth Oaks movement and also AngusPure.

09.01.2022 Thursday and Friday Muller Station Steve and Mary Satterthwaite Thursday night saw me venture to the middle of the Awatere Valley to be hosted by Steve and Mary Satterthwaite at Muller Station. Wow, what an incredible part of the world this is! The Muller is just shy of 100,000 acres making it one of the largest properties in New Zealand. The Satterthwaite family have owned and operated ‘The Muller’ since the 1960’s, with Steve managing the place from 1980. A combination... of sheep and cattle occupy the hills within the Awatere Valley. Muller Station has ran a Merino stud since 2005 and with numerous imported stud rams from Australia. Additional to this, approximately 1100 cows will be mated this summer with plans to increase numbers to 1400-1500 breeding females. A base herd of Angus cows are mated to Angus and Charolais bulls. In previous years, Gelbvieh bulls have been utilized within the herd to increase hybrid vigor in their progeny. However, readily available high quality genetics within New Zealand has shifted the program to use more Angus and Charolais sires. A selection of Angus heifers are retained as replacements, with the remainder being finished. All steers including the Charolais cross calves are also finished. Progeny are typically finished on grass and processed between 18-22 months of age with an average carcase weight over 300 kg. During the summer; after joining has finished, cows and calves summered in the hills. The trek up usually takes the Satterthwaite family 4 days, along a 45km trail to get their cattle into the hills. Females are left up in the hills until weaning. The country at ‘The Muller’ is highly productive and is well managed with an extensive fertilizer program utilized alongside an integrated pasture management plan. Lambs are normally weaned onto clover based pastures in January. These paddocks are normally left untouched in the spring for pasture growth. However, with a highly productive spring and large amounts of pasture growth, the first calf heifers needed to be grazed on the pastures and will even be joined on these paddocks to manage the bulk amount of feed that is present to ensure that the pastures are adequate for the lambs at weaning. I would like to extend my gratitude out to the Satterthwaite family for hosting and providing insight to your operation. It is always great experience to see how genetics are performing in a commercial environment. The country and cattle in this part of the world was stunning!

04.01.2022 Taimate Angus Thursday Paul Hickman After my 1100km road trip in the North Island and crossing over to the South, I shortly found my way to Taimate Angus at Ward. Paul Hickman and family run quite a unique business model with several commodities integrated throughout the property Cattle, Sheep and Vineyard. Taimate Angus run approx. 200 stud females with emphasis on commercially oriented, docile cattle. They host an on-farm bull sale each year in June and catalogue app...rox. 65 bulls. In 2019, Taimate had a very successful bull sale, topping at $84K, with a strong overall average. It is a credit to the Hickman family to have the ability to catalogue such a high percentage of bulls, given that they would be calving down approx. 100 bull calves each year. This is heavily reflected in their cow herd and the consistency that is present throughout all females. Taimate also run sheep and turn over approx. 2500 lamb during the winter. The business model at Taimate is quite innovated. Sheep are generally run in the vineyards for 5 months of the year, which essentially provides high quality feed to the sheep and in return reduces the amount of grass in between the grapes. Taimate have recently significantly improved their water infrastructure, which has provided the ability to increase their vineyard which now exceeds more than double their original vineyard area. The Hickman family produce all Sauvignon Blanc variety which serve multiple contracts. The one variety provides more proficient management practices and higher efficiencies across the operation. The country at Taimate was interesting! When approaching Taimate, the country looked vastly dry in comparison to the north. However, after getting out and about, there was an abundance of bulk quality feed available and you could clearly see this in the condition of the cows. One thing I found intriguing was that even with such an overload of feed available coming into summer (generally New Zealand’s dryer months) that there is a concern that the feed won’t last. This was due to the soil type being so porous and how quickly moisture drains away. Another factor influencing the moisture content in the area is the wind. This part of New Zealand is renowned for going from feast to famine very quickly. One way to utilize the abundance of feed is to put cattle on agistment or to buy some feeder cattle that can be quickly turned over if it gets too dry. Having dry dairy cows on agistment is quite attractive and is more than three times the price of that of top quality agistment country in Australia! To Paul and family, I would like to sincerely thank you for providing your time and giving me the opportunity to view your country and cattle. It was great to understand your perspective on the breed and the direction you are taking to achieve your breeding objectives and I look forward to keeping in touch and coming back one day soon!