| 9 nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Forest View Belted Galloway Stud Belted Galloway breed adds real value Sue Russell Susan Nicol and Eric Box own and operate Forest View Belted Galloway stud, situated at Ohaupo, near Te Awamutu. The couple have been breeding Belted Galloway for nigh-on 20 years and, as dairy farmers first, they say there’s plenty of good reasons why the breed adds real value into their dairy business. “We discovered there’s demand for the Galloway crosses from the beef farmers and there’s a strong market for selling five day feeder calves. We have standing orders from people each season. The’re popular with life-stylers, being black and white they look pretty cool in the front paddock and at the end they are very tasty,” Susan says. Belted Galloway Bulls perform well in the dairy herd and produce calves with strong traits, that grow a fine carcass of meat with good marbling and taste. The stud numbers are small, but this is something the couple are happy with. Currently the registered herd extends across six pedigree cows and eight bulls. It began with three cows and a bull but increased measurably back in 2015 when the opportunity to import ten embryos from the USA was seized. “We got into breeding to access the traits we needed – temperament, size and strength for longevity. We were very fortunate with our strike rate, out of the ten embryos nine struck. Today I have two cows and one bull from that original breeding.” The history of the breed is impressive, extending way back to the 17th century from the Galloway district in Scotland. Belted Galloway’s are one of four types and the most distinctive. Galloways offer farmers great capability given their adaptability to varying conditions of altitude, topography and climate. Canadian studies prove their ability to convert dry matter to meat in a higher proportion than any other breed. “They’ll eat just about anything, including backberry and gorse shoots and cope well with feed shortages with great resilience. They’re also easy calving cattle, giving birth to low-weight progeny that grow rapidly. They’re also great mothers and have proven ability to get in-calf.” Susan says while they appear a moderate or smaller animal their kill weight is always surprising, yielding higher carcass percentage to live weight with the added advantage of marbling in the meat. In a new development Susan and Eric have decided to rear their calves all the way through to killing. Susan Nicol and Eric Box. “We’ve just bought a little bit more land in order to do this and we’re looking foward to seeing what sort of results we can achieve,” says Susan. There isn’t too much Eric doesn’t understand about the breed and the benefits Galloway genetics bring into the mix. “We originally chose Belted Galloways because of the colour markings. They’re definite so you can tell immediately what you’re looking at in the herd. Easy calving was another factor influencing our choice and because they’ve been bred over the last 500 years they have become good at looking after themselves. Within a day of being born they are on the go,” Eric explains. Another characteristics is the slower maturing rate of the animal compared with other breeds. This means their meat remains tender longer as they grow out. “They’re also very intelligent and are naturally a polled animal which is something I always wanted,” says Eric. Eric says, with the decision to grow out their own beef, he has a developing interest in the marketing of meat, pointing to a mobile abattoir in the South Island that focuses mainly on the heritage breeds. “It would be good to have access to something similar here as there’s growing interest from people to source wonderful quality meat direct from the paddock and to understand the environment the animal has been raised in.” Forest View Stud belongs to the NZ Galloway Society, an organisation focussed on promoting and preserving the breeds unique qualities. Strict guidelines are adhered to in order to register a herd. Described as a ‘breed apart from all others’, if managed properly they are extremely docile with calves enjoying an appealing curious disposition. Puberty is reached at a young age as well and the breed is extremely fertile. With rich creamy milk, cows produce a very well nourished calf and its not uncommon for cows to continue to calve well into their late teens. COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE Our Services Domestic Home Automation Rural Healthy Home Checks Electric Vehicle Chargers Outdoor Areas Commercial Home Audio Systems Solar Systems Home Ventilation Smart Panel Installation 0800 308 300 info@bestelectrical.co.nz www.bestelectrical.co.nz “We got into breeding to access the traits we needed – temperament, size and strength for longevity.” • Feed Pads - Farm Structures • Wintering Sheds • Dairy Sheds
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