| 21 Top opportunity Virginia Wright RURAL PEOPLE » Mill Valley / Morton Shorthorns They bought the 160 hectare block of land called Mill Valley seven years ago. Hugh de Lacy Prime bulls on offer Getting the right bull for the cow is critical as it has a strong in uence on EBV’s and the overall genetics of the progeny, says Bay of Plenty Shorthorn breeder Craig Morton. “We get most of our genetics from Spry Shorthorns and Royalla Shorthorns in Central New South Wales. But while the bull is important, worry about your cows because they’re the females; the most important ones and the ones who will continue to look after you.” Craig’s parents Ken and Betty Morton founded Morton Shorthorn stud in the late ‘60s, though it was originally known as Orena Stud. Located in Katikati, near the northern end of Tauranga Harbour, the Morton’s 80-hectare home farm has been in the family for nigh on 160 years and Craig is the fourth generation to be the caretaker of that land. Craig’s great-grandfather had milking shorthorns and so it was a logical transition to the beef breed, building the herd up from dispersal sales from Ardmore and Gleneagles studs. “Because we aren’t a big stud we bring in a lot of new bloodlines from Australia,” says Craig. “My father had been going over to Australia since the ‘70s, and for the last twenty years it’s been me bringing semen back. We imported Sprys Shorthorn’s embryos in the late ‘90s. Sprys Prophet Muriel is well known in the Shorthorn breed as one of our best female lines.” Morton Shorthorn’s annual on-farm bull sale will be held on the 19th of May, with a dozen prime R2 bulls likely to be on offer. Good temperament, longevity, good growth with plenty of muscle and positive fats, good carcass traits and good eye appeal are key traits the Morton’s strive for. “Fertility and calving ease also comes into it. Every client is different. Some want a heifer bull, so you’re looking for a low birth weight bull, and you also have to cater for those who want to produce decent heifers and steers that will have good growth, a little bit of frame, can be taken through and not be over fat in the width. It comes down to EBV’s and that’s why genetics are so important now. That’s why I like to talk to the clients. We have clients who’ve been coming to us fteen to twenty years, so we must be doing something right.” It will be the Morton’s eight on-farm sale. For the previous 32 years bulls were offered with other top breeds at the Beef Expo held in Palmerston North and then Feilding. “We changed to an on-farm sale because people can come on farm, see the bull’s mother, see the calf that she’s had this year and get a better idea of the bull’s history.” While Craig now takes the lead role in the stud, his parents still live on farm in the house next door and at 87 years young his dad remains actively involved. “Dad doesn’t want to let up the reins and still feeds out. The reality is that he will die in the paddocks that have been his life.” As caretaker of the land, Craig’s passion is to improve the land and leave to the fth generation of Mortons. People helping people achieve their dreams Tax. Audit. Advisory 07 571 6280 Tauranga@bdo.co.nz Precision Helicopters Ltd 0800 246 359 i i li www.precisionhelicopters.com | sales@precisionhelicopters.com . r i i li t r . | l r i i li t r . When the time came in 2011 to take maternity leave from her job in Stratford it provided the perfect opportunity for Amanda and Aaron Harris to leave town for good and start working towards their own farm venture. They spent a couple of years working on Aaron’s family farm with his parents Tony and Linda Harris, 70 or so kilometers east of Mount Taranaki in Pohokura. Then seven years ago they bought the 160 hectare block of land called Mill Valley off them, complete with the house they were already living in. When the neighbouring 387 hectare block called Snake Gully came up for sale not long afterwards, Amanda and Aaron were encouraged and helped by Aaron’s parents to manage its purchase. “It was more acceptable to the bank for them to buy it,” says Amanda, “so they actually bought it and we lease it off them as if we own it. We pay everything but eventually as we move forward, and pay off more principal from the loan on our rst block, and gain more equity, we’ll get to a position where we can actually buy it off them.” Already in the last four years Aaron and Amanda have made inroads into their mortgage at the same time as doing a lot of improvements to the land, all of which adds up to equity. Their goal is to own both blocks outright and, in the meantime, as well as developing the land the way they want it they’re enjoying building up their two studs: a Wiltshire stud they started in 2010, and a Shorthorn stud they started around the time they bought Mill Valley. Both breeds are well-suited to the terrain they live on: apart from 20 or so hectares of at land, “the rest of it is up,” as Amanda puts it. They predominantly run store lambs which they sell off in bunches of around 200 starting just after New Year. Depending on the season they’ll fatten some themselves if they’ve got the grass to support Craig’s parents Ken and Betty Morton founded Morton Shorthorn stud in the late ‘60s, though it was originally known as Orena Stud. PAEROA egional ransport 2020 td REGIONAL TRANSPORT • LIVESTOCK CARTAGE 021 790 296 rtlstock@gmail.com them, helped by the summer chicory crops they’ve started growing. They sell any commercial weaners they might have store as well. “At the moment we haven’t sold any store lambs because we’ve got grass so we’ll hold onto them until the market picks up and we get to the dollar gure that works for our budget for the season. So we play the market a bit rather than having a set routine,” says Amanda. When they purchased Snake Gully the Harrises had to buy the only sheep they could nd on the market, Romney-X ewes, which they’ve been phasing out ever since as they work towards a pure Wiltshire ock. They still maintain their pure Wiltshire stud and have their usual ram hoggets on the ground to sell in November this year as stud ram 2-tooths. After four years of breeding their approximately 1200 strong ock, selecting for sheep that suit the country, Amanda can see the Wiltshire traits coming through. The fact that Wiltshires lose their wool is an added bonus given that shearing wool these days can cost money rather than bringing in an income. “We like farming the Wiltshire breed anyway”, says Amanda. “Even if the wool market picked up it’s a breed of sheep that we rate. They’re quite agile, quite maternal, and they’re compact with hardy feet that suit our country really well. They’re like a goat in that they’ll go to the rougher food on the hills, and they’re not too fussy.” The Harrises also favour the Shorthorns for their suitability to the terrain they’re farming. “They’re an economic cow, a good maternal animal, and they look good in the paddock as well,” says Amanda with a laugh. As with the sheep they’re breeding their cows towards being a purebred Shorthorn herd and making clear decisions with their genetics to express the traits they want. “It’s a work in progress improving the genetics in both studs,” says Amanda, “moving forward having pure Wiltshires and pure Shorthorns is the goal.” BR E ED ING HARDY H I LL COUNTRY S I R E S 5188 Ohura Road, RD 26, Stratford P 06 7623520 E millvalleynz@gmail.com
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