56 | “It also meant we could enter his semen into Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s cross breed beef progeny evaluation, which we have done. That means we will be able to see how Spectacular performs particularly in the areas MEAT & WOOL » Matatoki Herefords • from page 55 www.standrewstransport.co.nz Cell: 027 329 555 Phone: 03 612 6605 Main Road, St. Andrews PO Box 137, Timaru Email: satrans@xtra.co.nz Proud to be associated with Matatoki Herefords MAUNGATI LIME CO LTD Supp l i er s of Hi gh Qua l i t y L ime • Track Rock • Lime & Fertiliser Spreading • Lime Chip • Aggregate • Owner Operated Spreaders Alistair Johnson 027 433 8735 Sean Johnson 027 653 1722 Holme Station, RD2 Timaru Ph 686 4859 Proud to support Matatoki Herefords of hybrid vigour going over a commercial herd. The bull has strong growth and carcass traits from a moderate birth weight, and an extremely good IMF of 2.4%, which is three times the breed average.” Paul and Fiona operate the Matatoki Hereford Stud on their 180 hectare farm, Maungati, 30 minutes southwest of Timaru. Paul says the key to a developing a successful stud has been about breeding for balanced traits, as opposed to any one particular EBV or type, and ticking as many boxes as possible in the EBV space including moderate birth, good growth figures with positive fats. “We try to increase IMF through our AI programmes. Apart from EBV’s there’s also structural soundness and temperament. In terms of an all-round package, the Hereford breed is hard to beat. They have very good temperament, maternal qualities, good fertility, and have the ability to convert pretty average tucker into a very good quality product. To my mind, the breed offers a hell of a lot to the New Zealand beef industry, and at present it’s underutilised in terms of the hybrid vigour it can offer to other herds of different breeds, particularly Angus. As they say, hybrid vigour is the only free lunch in agriculture. For commercial guys it helps to increase calf weaning weights, which science tells us is 10 – 14%.” Matatoki Hereford sources its genetics from the top studs around New Zealand and Australia using both semen and live bulls.
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