| 13 Interest builds in Charwell bull sale LimeHills Stardom Okawa Ceresin. Charwood two-year-old 2023 sale bulls. Richard Loader RURAL PEOPLE » Charwell Polled Herefords With his feet firmly on the earth for 82 years, and farming all his long life, Bay of Plenty stud breeder Peter Davies reckons there’s nothing nicer than watching dark red, clean white headed Hereford cattle quietly grazing an emerald green hillside paddock. Growing up on the family farm in Kaikoura, Peter’s been around the cattle for a long time. His father was a premier judge of Herefords and took Peter to a lot of shows, showing him what he liked about the breeds, and sometimes seeking Peter’s opinion about how good a cow was. Peter and his wife Penny are the proprietors of the Charwell Polled Hereford Stud. Started by Peter’s grandfather in 1919 on the Kaikoura Coast, Charwell Polled Herefords is one of the oldest Hereford studs in the country. When the Kaikoura farm was sold Peter started bringing heifers to the North Island, until he had enough for a herd. This year will be the 23rd on-farm sale, held as usual on the second Wednesday in September, starting at 11.30am. This year’s line-up includes around fifty 2-year-old bulls, fifteen 18-month bulls, and forty yearling bulls. “We always look forward to it,” says Peter. “It’s a big day and a lot of people attend - buyers, clients, ex-clients, prospective clients, and a number of neighbouring farmers come along to help. The majority of our clients are dairy farmers, along with beef breeders. We usually sell top of the line two-year-old bulls anytime from June by private treaty, always with some good ones left for the sale. This year we’ve actually kept everything for the sale.” Over the years most of the stud’s bloodlines have been drawn from Maungahina Stud and Koanui Polled Herefords, and have had the biggest influence on the herd. Recently outcrosses have come from two South Island studs and another in the North Island. “We’re just looking for the best bulls we can find. We paid $47,000 for a bull called Saracen from a stud in Ashburton last year. The first thing we breed for, and the reason we’re in Herefords, is temperament. They have to be quiet. Then they have to be structurally sound, fertile and have all the necessary breeding equipment. They have to have clean shoulders and good neck extension for easy calving, which is especially important for dairy farmers. They’re looking for a quiet bull that will have easy calves.” Located halfway between Rotorua and Whakatane, in the small rural locality of Manawahe, Peter and Penny’s farm encompasses 800 hectares of rolling to hill country, and 100 hectares of mowable country for hay and silage. “The soil is ash over pumice. Not high fertility soil. BRAEWOOD SOUTH SUFFOLKS Proudly providing The Davies with quality sires for over 30 years. Founded in 1977. Supplying rams all over the North Island. SIL recorded since inception, we focus on traits that make money for our clients - principally structural soundness, easy care, and growth rate. Also eye muscle scanning and selecting for footrot resistance. Purebred so you get the hybrid vigour. Ian Lawrence 022 3633943 Michael Lawrence 027 2798517 BayVets Clinic Phone: 07 304 9184 40 Bridge Street, Edgecumbe. Proud to be associated with Charwell Polled Herefords Peter & Penny Davies It’s light country but very good for cattle because it doesn’t get muddy. Some hills are quite steep and some quite easy. But I consider them to be very important for young animals to learn to climb and build fitness and muscle. They’re naturally fed and don’t have any cropping other than hay and silage. That means they will easily move onto where ever they have to go. They are going from a similar or worse fertility country to something that is more fertile and they will achieve better results.”
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