32 | Hawke’s Bay studs’ A standout in this years sale, Koanui S472 (top). Fred Chesterman plants hundreds of trees each year. Chris and Glen making bull selections (right). Russell Fredric RURAL PEOPLE » Koanui Polled Herefords TALK TO THE TAG EXPERTS your tags to suit you CUSTOMISE PBB, PO Box 503, 75 South Street, Fielding 4740 P: 0800 248 247 E: tags@pbbnz.com | pbbnz.com For all your tag requirements “The idea of working with Hallmark Angus is to provide cattle breeders an excellent opportunity to purchase top genetics from either breed over two days of sales. We hope it will also bring some much-needed tourism back as we encourage out of town guests to make the most of Hawkes Bay on their business trip.” Koanui is now the largest registered Polled Hereford herd in New Zealand and last year calved 800 registered females, Chis says. “We sell around 300 bulls for breeding each year into the beef and dairy industries and sell semen and embryos around the world.” Both studs have had stellar results in previous bull sales, achieving between them top average prices and the record individual price in given years. Chris Chesterman says Koanui’s stock are bred for balanced estimated breeding values. “You are providing a client with a lot of information and the best recording that you can”. Koanui uses FarmIQ management software to keep track of all operations on the farm. It is used daily to diarize the data recording and FarmIQ has a clear map view and a vast array of tracking options including animal and land treatments plus a mobile app. “We keep track of our cattle on an individual basis. The staff can all access FarmIQ on their phones via the APP and they all record treatments, weights and mobs as they are done. This makes everyone’s lives so much easier. I can go back into the Farm IQ diary and find the data I need to load up for our genetic evaluations and stud management very easily,” Jennifer says. “We even used Farm IQ to measure the fence lines taken out by flooding during the cyclone; it has made our recording so much easier.” Koanui is offering a total of 55 bulls on-farm on June 15, 1pm at Maraetotara, while Hallmark has 70 bulls up for auction on its Tutira property on June 16 at 3pm. A combined bull sale event being hosted on June 15 and 16 by two Hawke’s Bay cattle studs mid-June is being promoted as “bigger than Bola”. Dubbed Bay Bulls, the two-day event is being held at Koanui Polled Herefords and Hallmark Angus which are about 70 kilometres apart in Maraetotara and Tutira respectively. Between them, the studs and the cattle being offered represent an impressive history of breeding and a desirable pool of balanced traits. Koanui Polled Herefords is a generational farm owned and run by the Chesterman family, while Hallmark Angus is run by Max Tweedie and his wife Lucy McLean. Hallmark Angus was started with half of the Cricklewood herd, an historic East Coast stud with more than 80 years of breeding. In 2017 the complementary Heather Dell herd at Rotorua was purchased to take Hallmark to a total of 170 calving females and to provide yearling bull options. The inclusion of the historic Waiterenui Angus Stud in 2022 increased the herd to more than 500 calving females, putting it among the largest, highly recorded Angus stud herds in New Zealand. The stud is run across Mokara and Pa Hill farms in Tutira totalling 990 ha of medium to steep pumice hill country. Koanui Polled Herefords was founded in 1972 by Fred Chesterman and his wife the late Annette Chesterman and is now run by Chris and Jennifer (Jen) Chesterman who have four children, Hugh, Glen, Gerard and Allie, and it was Glen who had the inspiration to run the combined Bay Bulls event. Bay Bulls includes a full day of hosting on both days, with food and beverages provided in true country hospitality while creating a great opportunity for attendees to socialise and network.
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