Page 56 - Hereford Magazine 2021

Working in the

same direction

Herefords at home on Richon Station.

Three North Canterbury families work together
throughout the year to grow strong Hereford
cattle; joint bull sales are the culmination of
their hard work.

Words: Annabelle Latz. Photos: Annabelle Latz/supplied.
A
casual conversation over a beer one weekend
led to an annual combined cattle sale for the
Stokes, Burrows, and Molloy families in North
Canterbury.
The three families have strong ties with
Hereford breeding and their strong sales are always a
reflection of their hard work and passion for what they do.
After an inaugural joint two-year bull sale in 2019, Rob and
Julie Stokes hosted the second sale at yards at Balcairn in June Julie and Rob Stokes with yearling bulls due to be taken through
2020. It was a joint sale between themselves as Richon Herefords, to two-year-old sale in June.
their daughter Roz with Lees Valley Herefords, Rob and Mary
Ann Burrows with Beechwood (whose stud cows are share ownership, but 2500ha Richon Station is one of only two still
farmed with Richon), and Tim and Helen Molloy with Woodburn. in private ownership.
For the past three years the families have also had a yearling The couple started breeding a handful of Hereford bulls as
sale in October that is aimed at the dairy industry, with low birth an aside from their commercial operation.
weights and short gestation data type bulls. At the 2020 yearling “It started in 1994, we bought 20 [horned] cows from Taurau
sale, 67 bulls collectively went under the auction hammer. Valley in Gisborne from Toby Hinds,” Rob says.
“We breed more polled Herefords now, but are still pretty
Richon breeding since 1994 passionate about the horned cows. We will carry on in the
valley with these for the commercial cow herd, which will still
Rob and Julie Stokes are third generation owners of Richon have a lot of purebred horned genetics.”
Station in Lees Valley, east of the Pancake and Puketeraki As well as farming 2400 Perendale sheep and finishing 200
Ranges in the foothills of the Southern Alps. steers, the couple run a mix of 500 commercial cows and 140
Many of the original farms in the valley are now in overseas stud cows that go to a selection of Hereford bulls.

54 HEREFORD MAGAZINE Year 2021