44 | MEAT & WOOL » Johalz Angus Raman Johal’s foray into farming The scales were tipped in favour of Angus when they found Peter Hedell, owner of the Glen R Angus stud, not far away in Sheffield. Raman believes the Glen R Angus genetics got him off to a flying start. Virginia Wright Raman Johal grew up on a crop farm in Northern India and came to New Zealand in 2012 to study IT in Auckland where he met his wife Shainaz. She had left Canterbury for a job in finance, and when their daughter Muskaan was born seven years ago they moved back to Christchurch looking for a better place for raising children. The change of place was accompanied by a change of direction for Raman who trained and worked as a mechanic in the city while keeping a lookout for a lifestyle block. In 2017 they bought 15 hectares in Swannanoa and Raman got a job as mechanic at the garage in Oxford. Their first foray into farming was fattening 25 Angus/Hereford X cattle which they enjoyed, and by the end of the year Raman was talking to other farmers as he tried to decide whether to pursue farming further or stay with mechanics, there was a lot to think about. “If we do decide to go with farming what do we do? Do we go with breeding, and if so what breed are we going to choose? Should it be Hereford or are we going to go with Angus?” says Raman. They got in touch with a few stud owners and the scales were tipped in favour of Angus when they found Peter Hedell, owner of the Glen R Angus stud, not far away in Sheffield. The five in-calf heifers they bought from him were the first purebred registered Angus to come into their newly registered Johalz Stud. At that stage it was still more of a hobby than anything else, with Raman more concerned with quality than quantity as he continued working fulltime as a mechanic in Oxford. The growing herd soon needed more room, and in 2020 Raman moved to a job in Kirwee not far from where they bought a 50 hectare irrigated block in Dunsandel complete with a house for the family to live in, which they supplemented with two lease blocks for a total of 100 hectares. While Raman’s quick to point out that they don’t compare to the big Angus studs, he’s gradually built his numbers up to 30 mixed age purebred Angus cows, along with two full-time registered Angus sires on the farm. The Johals breed their heifers at 12 – 18 months assuming they meet their target weight of 350kgs. Given the strength of their genetics, the relatively small number of cows to keep in good feed and their overall management, that target is usually met, with very few having to be culled. Raman believes the Glen R Angus genetics got him off to a flying start. “We still have three of those original heifers in our herd. They’re lovely cows and they’ve been in calf every year since we bought them producing lovely calves,” says Johal. When Johal says lovely cows, he’s not talking lightly, as far as he’s concerned there’s no space on their farm for cranky cows. Temperament is something they select for very strictly, and despite their ‘no electric prod, no stick policy’ they’ve only ever had to cull one cow. Temperament, structure, fertility, calving ease and live calves on the ground are the key traits they’re looking for. They back up their AI programme with their own sires, but this year they have high hopes for the semen they’ve bought in from two top new bulls, one from the Kincardine Stud and the other from Taimate Stud which they secured before its semen rights were sold to Australia. “I’m excited by those two bulls actually, they’ve got really good structure and really good shape so I’m hoping to see calves that look just like their sires,” says Raman with a smile. Next year they hope to have 10 bulls available for sale at the BIDR yearling Angus Bull Sale, with the remainder available privately as usual. Eventually they would like to see their numbers increase enough to justify an on farm sale but in the meantime the Johals have a steady stream of repeat commercial and dairy clients, happy that the bulls they purchased have met their expectations, and ready to come back for more. We are a family owned business breeding sound, efficient, easy doing and docile angus cattle 027 756 4259 johalzfarm@gmail.com johalzangus DELIVERED NATIONWIDE WITHIN 4-5 DAYS FROM ORDERING Outstanding in the field Ryegrass clover and brassica mixes Barley - Oats - Pea options Phone 03-324 3951 or Nick 022-083 3579 www.cridgeseeds.co.nz SPRING SOWING
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