| 23 RURAL PEOPLE » Hinewaka Shorthorns Genomics ‘way forward’ for breeders Sue Russell Hinewaka Shorthorns, located some 20kms south-east of Masterton is a sprawling 780ha rolling to steep hill country sheep and beef farm. The farm carries a long and proud history. David and wife Pip are the sixth generation on the historic property while son Mitch has now taken over full responsibility for the day-to-day operation. “That’s a good thing. Each generation adds further to the property in its unique way and for Pip and I it’s a perfect time to have handed over. We’re looking forward to moving off the farm soon. Mitch has been working here many years now and doesn’t need me looking over his shoulder,” David says. The farm carries an impressive topography, extending some 1500ft above sea level. It regularly experiences rainfall of 800ml and is home to top class stud shorthorn stock. Each year, 20-30ha is planted in kales, providing additional nutrition through the summer and winter feeding times. Since last talking with David, the annual bull sale has taken place. David says this was an excellent sale, an average of $9200. “Really strong interest is what drove prices to this level. We stood up 20 bulls and it was one of the best line-ups we have ever presented for sale.” It is a very competitive market out there amongst the beef breeds and Shorthorns have to ght hard for their share of that market, but there is a realisation amongst many farmers now of the advantages of the Shorthorn breed. Their maternal strengths and well known, their fertility, milking ability and docility. What is really coming to the fore is the meat qualities of the breed. The high marbling of Shorthorns is being recognised and farmers are chasing this trait in their breeding programmes. Hinewaka is home to 150 breeding cows and 3500 ewes, all run under commercial conditions. “As much as we have a passion for the breed, they are not a hobby, they are a business and must t in to our overall farming operation.” “There are huge nancial opportunities out there that are being lost by many farmers operating straight breeding cattle operations. When I rst started farming everyone cross-bred with cattle while their sheep breeding operations tended to be purebred. Everyone was aware of the bene ts of using different cattle and the hybrid vigour that added anything from 10-20% nancially to their bottom line. Now we have the reverse situation with many farmers using multiple breeds in their sheep breeding operations and often just the one breed in their cattle operations.” Sitting behind this concern is the fact that there have been huge productivity increases over time within the sheep industry due mainly to the gains made through multiple births. The gains made by the cattle industry have been perceived to be slower and hence the emphasis placed on most farmers sheep operations. Often the cow herd has been put on the backburner, but there is huge potential to improve cattle pro tability through crossbreeding and genetic selection. “I strongly believe the way forward is through genomics. We DNA test our cattle but , as yet, Breedplan don’t run a genetic evaluation for the shorthorn breed. This has been extremely frustrating and Australian Shorthorns have left Breedplan and are now recording with IGS in the USA, which is the biggest cattle evaluation programme in the world with over 18 million cattle records. IGS have an across breed evaluation , so we can directly compare breeds with each other. This is a game changer for breeders and real genetic gain can be made. Unfortunately, Angus have chosen not to get on board with IGS. Ultimately, this could well be to their disadvantage. NZ Shorthorns are considering a shift to IGS, so we can be part of this change in the industry.” Beef and Lamb Genetics have for some years been running programmes evaluating different breeds in NZ conditions with the ultimate aim of producing a crossbred evaluation for NZ farmers. Shorthorn has jumped on board this year with BLGNZ and established a breeding programme with shorthorn bulls and semen in a crossbreeding evaluation on steep Wanganui hill country. The progeny will be carried through to slaughter and data will be gained along the way. “It is very easy to be parochial about your own breed and to compete with each other for market share, both between breeds and within breeds. Our competition is not with each other, it is with other sources of protein, both animal and plant based. It is also with the perception of farming as a dirty industry and all the reforms we are faced with to survive. This collaboration with BLGNZ is the beginning of creating really meaningful gains for our breed and the industry, and we’re very positive about it.” Proud to be associated with Hinewaka Shorthorns Hinewaka Shorthorns Proud to support : info@lala.co.nz Since last talking with David, the annual bull sale has taken place. David says this was an excellent sale, an average of $9200.
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