56 | Herefords, quarter horses a common interest Sue Russell Its fair to say that Ross Philips, of Tui Hills Hereford Stud near Tauranga has put his hand to a number of jobs prior to establishing the stud in 206. Included in the history is sheep and beef farming,horse shoeing, shearing, long-haul truck driving, transporting mussels out of Coromandel in refrigerated trucks as far south as Dunedin and operating earth-moving machinery, forestry and high production logging right through to late 2019. Meeting his wife Schirelle in 1999 whist owning trucks at Mainfreight Transport together they purchased their farm in 2016. They established the stud by way of purchasing Hereford cows through dispersal sales, ultimately ending up with 40 commercial cows and 60 registered stud cows. Following a serious accident in 2020 Ross says it was time to downsize the farming, firstly selling the commercial herd then slowly reducing the stud number to its current number of 35 registered cows. “We also kept some forestry machinery and today operate a forestry hire and lease business,” Ross says. Asked what it is about Herefords that he enjoys Ross says it goes back to his Dad’s love of the breed which got passed down. “They do look really good against clean green pasture and the blue sky, their colour stands out, which is really appealing. They are big animals, but in my opinion unfortunately there has been a lot of cross-breeding and the purebreds are getting hard to find.” Ross sums it up by saying a pure-bred Hereford is an animal you can be proud of, given their stature. The couple also enjoy the breed’s temperament. “We have a mob of heifers and are going to sell some of these, with the aim to have fewer animals and just doing them really well.” Ross says that when he was in his late 20’s he was given the opportunity to take over the family hill country farm up north but didn’t want to get strapped with burdening debt. “Dad and I had a conversation 20 years later about that decision of mine, because at the time he thought I was making a mistake not taking it over but as it turned out he acknowledged that decision was the best one I had ever made.” Stock are not sold at public auction but just through private treaty arrangements. Ross and Schirelle encourage any farmer interested in the breed to visit and see the animals on-farm. “It’s the best way to get a sense of their presence and temperament.” RURAL PEOPLE » Tui Hills Herefords Tui Hills R1 bulls for sale at present. “We have a mob of heifers and are going to sell some of these, with the aim to have fewer animals and just doing them really well.” 0800 SEAWEED (732 9333) www.agrisea.co.nz HELICOPTER OPERATIONS LTD Aerial Spraying • Fertiliser Application • Crops & Pasture Proudly supporting Tui Hills Herefords Leith Carmichael OWNER/PILOT 027 499 6492 Kristian Carmichael PILOT 021 0247 4387 Base heliops@xtra.co.nz 07 883 4728
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