Business Rural Spring 2021

36 | Glacier Horned Hereford progeny Heifers at Thirsty Culver (top). Bull Calves in Winter (below). Hugh de Lacy MEAT & WOOL » Glacier Horned Herefords T he horned Hereford breed may be in decline in New Zealand in the face of health and safety fears about those horns, but the outstand- ing South Westland stud Glacier Horned Herefords continues to top cattle sales long after its great triumph of 2012. That was when the stud’s home-bred bull, Glacier Top, took out the All-breeds Champion of Champions title at the national Beef and Lamb New Zealand Beef Expo in Feilding. Like West Coaster Dave McKenzie who came out of the blue to win the Boston Marathon in 1967, Glacier Top was a virtual unknown, and he left the competition gasping just as much as he did the all-breeds judge. Wayne and Maggie Williams are the owners of Glacier Horned Herefords, and it was clients of theirs, Anna and Brent Fisher of the renowned Sil- verstream Charolais Stud of Lincoln, who took two Glacier bulls they’d bought as calves, Glacier Top and Glacier John, first to the Little River A&P Show on Banks Peninsula and then to the Canterbury A&P Show. Glacier Top won at Little River and Glacier John at Canterbury before the Fishers took them to Feilding, where Top was the best Hereford and also Champion of Champions while John placed third among the Herefords. For a largely unknown bull from a shrinking gene base to beat out all the most popular breeds – polled Herefords, Angus, Charolais and the rest – was nothing short of extraordinary. “We sold Glacier Top some time ago to Bruce and Mark Mackenzie’s Hereford stud near Masterton, one of the oldest in the country,” Wayne said. And though it’s now nearly a decade since Glacier Top’s triumph, the Glacier stud – named after the nearby Fox Glacier – continues to see its progeny topping the cattle sales wherever they appear. The latest was the annual Whataroa sale in April this year, where the top price of $1220 was paid for 21 Glacier Charolais-cross steers, continuing the Glacier stud’s record of winning the Ivor Scott trophy for the top pen of steers there every year since 2011. Those 21 represented the top cut of Glacier crossbred steers, but the heifers from the same cross made an equally impressive $1110. Today one of the stud’s most important sires is the Australian-bred Yarran Park Unique181, which is used for artificial insemination. “We put Unique across selected females and it’s given us a decided improvement in our stock char- acteristics, both on the ground and in our figures,” Wayne says, and Unique’s progeny have in recent years been sold to other stud breeders. “Especially impressive have been Unique’s figures across the range, and their high heritability has shown up in his progeny’s figures. “It’s what people are looking for when they buy a bull – it’s really positive.” The horned Hereford is the perfect animal for the wet and mountainous conditions of South Westland, and Wayne has no intention to doing away with the horns in favour of polls. Hawker Deer DEER VELVET & ANTLER BUYER Graeme Hawker : M: 027 432 3453 E: louisehawker@hotmail.com Congratulations to Wayne , Maggie & Family , Glacier Horned Hereford, Excellence in Hereford Breeding, Outstanding in Deer Breeding Alexanders are proud to support Glacier Horned Herefords We help you win in agribusiness. At Alexanders, we specialise in agribusiness. It’s what we do. It’s what we’re recognised for. As a leading agribusiness advisor, we are across all developments in the farming and accounting industries. SERVICING We deliver nationwide however we specialise in: • Greymouth • Westport • Hokitika • Christchurch • South Westland DISTRIBUTORS FOR Mainfreight West Coast, Aramex Couriers, Refrigerated & General Freight, Bulk & Livestock Specialists • BP Oil NZ Ltd – Bulk Fuel Delivery • BP & Castrol Lubricants Phone Greymouth: 03 769 9081 | Phone Hokitika: 05 756 8012 Phone Mainfreight West Coast: 03 769 9081 | Email: freight@aratuna.co.nz