Page 72 - 2020 NZ Hereford Magazine

750 females and approximately 750 support stock. Females
have been added over the years from the Seafield, Braxton,
Broadacre and Leader studs.
The family also has a Border Leicester sheep stud that was
established in 1869 in Southland.
While daughter Fiona works in the IT business in London at
present, she is very involved in the business. Son Hamish, who
is a helicopter pilot in Queenstown, will return home in autumn
2020 to take over the property, as well as continuing to fly.
“Liz and I are very aware of the privilege of now having a
sixth generation involved farming pedigree stock since the first
McKerchars arrived from Scotland in 1864. Our history and
heritage are very important to us.”
The Cannington property is a mixture of tussock and rolling
farmland, John says.
“The home farm is the breeding unit and the other two
smaller properties are used for growing young stock and having
our bull sale.”
In 2019, the stud sold all of its 174 R2 bulls at auction for an
average price of $2800 and sold a further 27 privately.
“Most of those were sold into the dairy industry – they have
gone from Bluff to Nelson and the West Coast.”
Their goal is to market 300 bulls annually and to scale up
their regenerative farming practices, which they see as a game
changer in the future.

ABOVE: John and Liz McKerchar at Shrimpton’s Hill Herefords,
Cave.

Kokonga Ironside 5005

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