Page 87 - 2020 NZ Hereford Magazine

EARNSCLEUGH HEREFORD STUD

It is Earnscleugh Station’s policy to treat its stud cattle the same without a strong constitution and the ability to walk and forage
as its high country clients’ herds. show up and are culled.
Stud females run entirely on semi-improved and native Bulls are weaned onto grass at Fruitlands, wintered on
tussock country and are subjected to the same pressures brassicas and then finished on grass.
expected of commercial cattle. Under these conditions, cattle The history of Earnscleugh Station starts with its original
purchase in 1862. Alistair and Judith Campbell and four Dunedin
business partners bought the property in 1981. Alistair and his
son Duncan now run it.
The Te Akatarawa Hereford stud was brought with them, and
the prefix changed to Earnscleugh. The stud has sold all polled
bulls since 2012. The station also has Merino, polled Merino,
Angus and composite cattle studs alongside the Herefords.
The station has an interesting history with its fight against
rabbits. It was also one of the first properties to get through
tenure review, a process where the crown and lessee negotiate
a settlement allowing for productive farmland to be freehold and
the rest either retired or farmed under special leases.
Today, the 21,000ha station has 450ha under irrigation. It
also has 100ha of dryland arable pastures in lucerne or grasses
and 7500ha that has been oversown (aerial) or direct drilled. The
balance is mostly in native grasses and tussock, particularly the
higher areas from 700m to 1850m above sea level.
South of Alexandra, the property has a Mediterranean
climate with hot dry summers and cold dry winters; rainfall is
300mm at the bottom and 1200mm on the tops.

LOCHARBURN HEREFORDS
Longevity and the extra bone from being a horned stud are of clients are commercial buyers from North Canterbury to
what set Locharburn Herefords apart. Southland, with a mix of hill and down country farmers.
Operated by Geof and Joyce Brown, the property is almost “We are well known for the temperament of our bulls, they’re
2000 hectares and is also home to 2300 extra fine Merino very quiet, and they come off reasonably hard hill country and
ewes. Locharburn is one of the few horned studs left and Geof will shift well,” Geof says.
believes horned cattle have that X factor. They have a commercial focus, and clients want a bull that
The stud is located between Cromwell and Wanaka and looks the part and also has the figures to back him up.
was established in 1972 with the purchase of six heifers. Now, “They have to have a bit of meat on them. We think the
the Browns have 250 registered cows and take all the progeny horned ones have a bit more bone in their back and front legs,
through, wintering about 600 cattle. and a bit more spring in their step.
Their annual on-farm sale is held on the Friday of Queen’s “They also have to be a good colour, with good eye pigment.”
Birthday Weekend and they sell up to 30 rising two-year-old bulls. The couple say longevity of a bull is important, as well as
This year they achieved their top price ever for a bull, of $37,000. structural soundness, and they stand behind the quality of
They sell a few bulls to the dairy industry, but the majority their bulls.

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