Page 109 - Hereford Magazine 2022

Hereford sisters

establish stud

Canterbury sisters Hillary Cooper, 16, and Elizabeth, 11.

Words and photos: Tony Benny

anterbury sisters Hillary and Elizabeth Cooper have
taken their love of the Hereford breed to another
level with the establishment of their own stud with
their mother, dairy farmer Michelle Maginness.
C The girls’ interest in Herefords started when
Hillary joined the Ag Club at Oxford Area School and she
liked the look of the white-faced calves some kids in the beef
section brought along to calf days.
“Mum said ‘there’s a fella down the road and he’s offering
Herefords for sale’ so I went down and I chose one, a wee The girls’ Hereford cows are now on their second crop of calves,
heifer cross calf I called Caramel. She became the love of my having been originally bought as in-calf heifers from the Okawa
life – she was amazing, I loved every bit of her,” Hillary recalls. Polled Hereford Stud.
“She was quiet, she was awesome to lead, and then she grew
up and became a cow in our herd so we had a Hereford cross love cattle leading, it’s really good,” Elizabeth says.
in the herd.” The trouble with the Future Beef event though was the one-
A few years later Hillary started taking dairy calves to the way trip for the steers.
Oxford A&P show, including Caramel, and there she was “They’re judged on hoof and then they’re judged on the
exposed to some “actual Herefords” that she liked the look of hook. They don’t come home those ones; they’re bred for
and soon the number of Hereford-cross calves on the dairy the hook, that’s the whole point of the exercise. Along that
farm started to grow. journey is when we thought we’d like to have some Herefords
“I learnt a wee bit more about the breed and then we started that we kept,” Michelle says.
doing Hereford steers through the dairy farm and Elizabeth and Having met top breeders at shows and other events and with
I started taking them to the show as part of the steer class.” her daughters’ passion for the breed showing no sign of abating,
She joined Hereford Youth and was soon being shoulder- Michelle decided the next move would be setting up a Hereford
tapped to lead breeders’ animals at shows. stud of their own, which they’ve named Cooper Whenua.
Younger sister Elizabeth, now 11, started down a similar They bought 15 surplus in-calf heifers from Nick and
path when she was still attending daycare and took a tiny Penny France at Okawa Polled Hereford Stud in Mayfield, Mid
calf to pet day. The pair have since attended shows around Canterbury, and have just had their second crop of calves.
the South Island as well as travelling to the North Island four They’re buying bulls for breeding because Michelle’s already
times to take animals to Future Beef. overseeing a big AI programme on the dairy farm and just
“I didn’t just do it because I had to, I did it for the joy. I just doesn’t have time to AI with the Herefords as well.

Year 2022 HEREFORD MAGAZINE 107