44 | RURAL PEOPLE » Richard Rowe Merchiston Angus 5 generations of devotion to the land The stud today is a collection 200 thoroughly well-bred cows, run across two properties. Sue Russell North-east of Marton in Manawatu sits Merchiston Estate, a historic homestead and farm that now stretches back 5 generations. The homestead has a wonderful history and today, is home to Richard and Vicki Rowe who have passionately tended the home, surrounding gardens and farm. Richard took over running the Merchiston Angus in 1980, inheriting it from his father Lloyd who established it in 1955. Richard recalls those early days where he informed his father that he wasn’t interested in farming, however when the call came to take over the stud, Richard agreed. Since that time Richard has grown an affinity and understanding of the breed, that has seen the stud’s reputation grow from strength to strength, to the point where stud progeny may be found anywhere in the country, sought for their breeding values and commercial worth. The stud today is a collection 200 thoroughly well-bred cows, run across two properties, Merchiston Estate and Glencorran, operated by Mike GeeTaylor. All the mixed-age cows sat at Glencorran. “We sold 150 two years ago and another 50 went on Bidr last year,” Richard says. Culling is not done on age, but rather performance, both maternal and paternal. Some of the cows sold had produced 12 or 13 calves and so had their mothers likewise. Richard remembers that time as a challenge, describing it as horribly sad for he and Vicki. “We’re going through a succession process at the moment and that has caused us to reconsider our current situation. These things are a part of farming and we’re just getting on with ensuring the best outcomes for all are reached.” Richard’s connection to the breed goes further than his own stud with long service working for Angus NZ over 27 years in a variety of roles. His commitment and hard work has been recognised in receiving Life Membership, something he is very proud of. The world of breeding never stands still, with the pursuit of finding ways to create greater benefit for commercial clients. Today, son William has returned home from a working holiday in the U.K. where he worked as a rep for Scott Beef in Stirling. His passion is in deriving as much information as possible using technologies to inform breeding data. “With the 200 cows sold to fellow stud breeders all over New Zealand we started purchasing our bull client weaner steer progeny, fattening about 150 Wed 5th June 2024 | 2:30 on farmat Rata Enquiries to - Richard Rowe Email: mercang@farmside.co.nz Ph: 0272798841 2YOBULLSALES to 160 through to 2 year olds with the aim to try to attain 600kg live weight before their second winter and processing them at this time,” Richard explains. It was the genetics these weaners carried that was of most interest to Richard and William, who wanted to study more about the relationship between genetics and carcase evaluation, with the aim of adding value for their clients. By buying in weaners, this provided the opportunity to explore the connections between the two. “There’s a huge amount of genetics involved in marbling. Premium prices are paid for the marbling score, so the quicker you can get them to the place where they are producing top quality marbling, without feed hang-ups the better.” Feed quality has a critical impact on marbling Richard says. If feed is not providing sufficient nutrition an animal can strip off its marbling as it is the last fat to be laid down and the first fat to go again. He also explains that Maternal traits are critically important for the breeder. “These traits need to be up to scratch before a commercial client can add a lot of value. If cows are not productive for the breeder, the commercial farmers has to take care of that. The most economically important trait is fertility and will always be so.” The benefit to clients selling weaners to Merchiston Angus is that they receive premium prices for their stock. They can afford to offer this price benefit to clients because they know they can grow the carcass to premium quality and weight before the second winter, so it is a win-win situation. The annual 2 year old bull sale is held each year in June. Richard says last year’s sale was particularly pleasing with a top son of Baldridge Goal Keeper fetching $41,000. Average sale across all bulls presented was $10,500. This year approximately 32 bulls will be put up for sale which includes more sons of last years feature sire Goal Keepr and other Merchiston-bred yearling bulls. The first sons of Hallmark Stirling will also present for sale. In September 20 yearling bulls will be put up for sale for first calving heifers, the target market. While Merchiston Estate is inevitably going through a period of transition as succession is managed, Richard says, the interest he and William have in establishing really indepth genetic data for clients to access is a welcome new opportunity. 06 323 2944 027 2760963 t.kendrick@kinect.co.nz . . . Call us today! Manawatu Shearing Top Service Competitive Rates Covering Manawatu, Rangitikei &Wairarapa areas
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