Im not actually sure how best to approach this as I have a week to update here so I will maybe do two entries to make it easier for me to follow. My next stop from Rotorua was to visit the Ardo Poll Hereford herd near Marton. It was a few hours from Taupo which is a bit of a tourist and adventurer trap sitting on the edge of lake Taupo which is beautiful to say the least. Whilst a tee-shirt was more than adequate there the road over the top of the mountains was a little different with sno falling and lying on the road but there were snow ploughs distributed along the route!
The Ardo herd is family owned and operated, running a 600+ cow Poll Hereford stud and large (5000 breeding ewes) sheep flock which includes many Wiltshire sheep.
It is totally commercially focused, producing bulls for the beef and dairy sectors, although mainly the latter. The bulls are marketed under the "ezicalf" brand. Any cows or heifers drawing attention to themselves for the wrong reason depart the herd at weaning. Selections are done with EBV's as enough data and confidence has been accumulated to make the cattle and EBV quality match up. It has been a particularly wet spring here too so the cattle werent looking at their best but once the sun comes to get the grass going they will really look good. The cattle and sheep run on two very different land types, flat fertile easy country and tough steep hill country, challenging the cows and bulls in both situations.
Everyone has heard about the famous dogs used on NZ farms known as Huntaways. They bark amongst many of their herding heading and healing skills. A celebration of them is held every year in Hunterville known as the Huntaway Shemozzle. Its hard to describe but simply put it is a day of craziness in tribute to these dogs and their owners. I will put some video on to more fully explain but heres a couple of pictures for now.
There is lots more to come but unfortunately not tonight. Yes that is one of a bulls dangly bits in his mouth. It is an improvement on the sheeps eyeballs they had to eat washed down with vinegar and cooking oil.
The Ardo herd is family owned and operated, running a 600+ cow Poll Hereford stud and large (5000 breeding ewes) sheep flock which includes many Wiltshire sheep.It is totally commercially focused, producing bulls for the beef and dairy sectors, although mainly the latter. The bulls are marketed under the "ezicalf" brand. Any cows or heifers drawing attention to themselves for the wrong reason depart the herd at weaning. Selections are done with EBV's as enough data and confidence has been accumulated to make the cattle and EBV quality match up. It has been a particularly wet spring here too so the cattle werent looking at their best but once the sun comes to get the grass going they will really look good. The cattle and sheep run on two very different land types, flat fertile easy country and tough steep hill country, challenging the cows and bulls in both situations. Everyone has heard about the famous dogs used on NZ farms known as Huntaways. They bark amongst many of their herding heading and healing skills. A celebration of them is held every year in Hunterville known as the Huntaway Shemozzle. Its hard to describe but simply put it is a day of craziness in tribute to these dogs and their owners. I will put some video on to more fully explain but heres a couple of pictures for now.There is lots more to come but unfortunately not tonight. Yes that is one of a bulls dangly bits in his mouth. It is an improvement on the sheeps eyeballs they had to eat washed down with vinegar and cooking oil.
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