Autumn Edition August 2019

RED POLL

NEWS Autumn Edition August 2019

DIRECTORY

Patrons Peter Fleming & Robin Shepherd

President Helen McKenzie  06 372 7842 Email [email protected]

Secretary Kirsty Loveday  027 207 6007 [email protected]

Vice-Presidents Ian Fleming  03 329 1787 Email [email protected]

Graeme Evans  06 378 2051 Email [email protected]

Executive Allan Bridson  07 865 8642 Email [email protected]

Kelvin Lane  06 362 7254

Robert McLeod  027 789 1618 [email protected]

Neil Wilton  06 379 7546

Editor Helen McKenzie 06 372 7842 Email [email protected]

Website: www.redpollcattle.co.nz (Also on Facebook)

The Association accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any published opinion nor information supplied by individuals or reprinted from other sources. Items may be abridged or edited.

Closing date for next newsletter is November 10th, 2019

Cover: Mixed age Red Poll cows from Kelvin & Kath Lane’s commercial herd

CONTENTS

02 Directory 03 Contents 04 President’s Page 05 Secretary’s Say 06 Patron’s Page I - Robin Shepherd 07 Patron’s Page II - Peter Fleming; International Congress South Africa 08 River Valley Farms Report 10 Editor’s Note 11 Rangitihi Report 12 Tamihana Report 14 NZ AGM & Herd Tour 20 Herd Tour Photos 21 UK Show Photos + 1 NZ photo 22 UK News 29 UK Society Membership Info 30 Evanlea Report 31 News from Canada 33 Crofthead Report 34 A Bit of History – Mrs Airini Woodhouse 35 Rosemarkie Report 36 Biological Farming 39 USA News; Back Cover Photo captions

PRESIDENT’S PAGE (& Editor) Thanks to those who supported my nomination to the role of President. I believe I am the first female in the role. Mrs Airini Woodhouse (renowned Bluecliffs Stud) was a Vice President for some years. I hope to prove your faith in me is justified in the next year or two! Thanks also to Kirsty Loveday, of Crofthead Stud, for taking on the role of Secretary and Graeme Evans that of Treasurer.

Wairarapa has had some good rain and a few frosty mornings recently. New lambs are appearing in earlier districts. The first Red Poll calves of the season have arrived in the Wairarapa with Evanlea’s first few on the ground. I have heard that from November (not sure when in November) visas will no longer be necessary for NZ’ers to travel to South Africa. Don’t forget to check what vaccinations you may need!

I hope some breeders will respond to Dean Anderson’s email which I forwarded to all full members. It will be great to see him and Marsha over here. There is an article from Dean elsewhere in this newsletter.

Not sure where they are at with m. bovis these days. I, and others that I know, cannot understand why “the powers that be” did not close Cook Strait to all inter island cattle movements as soon as they had an inkling of its presence. It has been done before when the pig breeders had an outbreak of Aujeszky’s Disease. It was not present in the South Island so animals could only travel to the North Island, not vice versa. First diagnosed in the North Island in 1976, it was eradicated by 1997, ‘using a combination of serological surveys, abattoir surveillance, test and slaughter, depopulation, vaccination and movement restrictions’. Not a quick fix but they won in the end. Obviously it will take some years for m. bovis to be gone. Perhaps MPI need to concentrate on one island first and stop stock movement back and forth.

This issue also sees an article by Bruce Nimon about the sustainable farming practises they use at Kokako farms. There was a lot of interest in this on the AGM tour. I wish all herds a successful calving. Helen McKenzie President 4

SECRETARY’S SAY

It has been a busy few months trying to get my head and laptop skills around the secretary’s role. I beg everyone’s patience as I sort through this. A huge thank you to Anne McSweeney, not only for her awesome work previously but also, for answering my random questions about the role.

Association website There have been some updates to the Red Poll Association website. Please check your details to ensure they are up to date. In an attempt to minimise expenditure we have recently changed the association email address. The new address is: [email protected]

Please update your address book as the old slingshot address no longer exists.

AGM You should have received your copy of the AGM minutes by now. If not please let me know so I can send them out.

Herd Tour and AGM 2020 Dates for your diary The 2020 herd tour will be in the Wairarapa, Wednesday 29 April to Friday 1 May. The AGM will be held on the morning of Friday 1 May.

Association Centenary 2021 The association will be 100 years old in June 2021. If you have any ideas for marking this exciting occasion, please feel free to contact me.

Any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me, either through the association email, or call on 027 207 6007.

Kirsty Loveday

PATRON’S PAGE I

Welcome rain is easing off after a very wet day. In the Far North we have had a dry summer and a drier autumn and have had what some would call a green drought. There has been just enough moisture to keep a green sward but not enough to give an autumn pasture boost. Thank goodness for kikuyu grass which has produced some fodder. There have been farmers in the area who ran out of stock water in late May and that is a serious situation. There is no doubt that our rural economies in New Zealand are water-dependant. In our locality a number of large dairy farms have been sold to horticulturists planting tens of thousands of avocados which are trees requiring huge amounts of water. That will be drawn from aquifers which will probably be stressed in the future. Municipal water supplies in our part of New Zealand are finding that demand for water is increasing but supply options are running out.

As a country we have been profligate in our use of water in past years but we are now having to face reality. Rivers, lakes and aquifers must be cared for, consumption controlled and quality protected.

As farmers we are often targeted as being the cause of water quality degradation but the reality is we are just one of many who pollute. Highways, roads, parking lots, railways and airports all discharge toxic materials which end up in waterways. Households all generate hazard pollutants of one sort or another. Industry, commerce and commercial shipping are often major polluters of drains, waterways and the sea.

Because others are polluters does not absolve us farmers from responsibility especially as our lively hoods depend upon water but we are entitled to be aggrieved when our city cousins seem not to consider that they may be also responsible, which brings me back to where I started; today’s rain has been very welcome and I treasure it.

Robin Shepherd QSO.

PATRON’S PAGE II Hello All

I am pleased to hear that the Congress in South Africa is going ahead and that the concept of Red Poll breeders as an international family is still going strong. Congratulations to Helen McKenzie, our new President. While Mrs Airini Woodhouse of the Blue Cliffs herd was a Vice President for several years, I believe Helen is our first female President since the formation of the Society in 1921. I’m looking forward to finding out what is being considered to commemorate the founding of the Association in June, 2021. My physical condition is now such that I find it difficult to communicate with our New Zealand and overseas friends but you are often in Eleanor and my thoughts. Our window with a paddock view is currently overlooking a herd of Speckled Park cattle – not my favourite outlook I would have to say! Thanks to Helen for keeping me in the loop and ensuring I have a few words in the Red Poll News each time. Peter Fleming

INTERNATIONAL RED POLL CONGRESS – SOUTH AFRICA, March 2019

Still thinking about it?

The dates for registration and payments have been extended. Registration and payment of deposit is now the end of July and the balance is payable at the end of November.

Helen McKenzie has details if you want the forms etc.

Regards Sandra van Wyk RED POLL SOUTH AFRICA

RIVER VALLEY FARM’S REPORT – June 2019

This part of the year has certainly been challenging… We didn’t do mixed breed calves this season and that has turned out to be our saving grace. With prices for stock at the low slow level it is, and the drought meaning that there is not a lot of feed on the ground. Carrying only what we have produced onsite has worked out a blessing in disguise. Not just for the healthcare isolation side but the welfare and nourishment of our herd too.

Last season’s heifers have gone up the block so that is holding 28 breeding cow’s and the magnificent Orwell. The block also has this season’s bull calves which we just steered on the weekend gone, beautiful to see that we guestimate all 6 are around 180kgs. The cows seem to be finding their own calving pattern which is spreading out, so still have about 5 younger beasts with their mums. The 30 acres is loaded to the hilt however; very proud that everything is Red Poll.

Some of the older breeding cows are back in calf so much complaining happened when weaning took place - lucky for distance between the 2 properties - always lessens the drama LOL I think.

On the home front we now have all this season’s 8 heifers, Santa Pants, the neighbours old Dinosaur and the 8 black white faces (which are in calf to Santa). Two of the white faces have had their calves; 1 completely Red like

8 the Sire and the other big surprise, a perfect little black white face just like her mama!!! Because of the numbers and grass shortage we have decided to sell all the in calf black/whites with calves at foot. Even though we know these 8 rising 2 year old Hereford are really great mothers, calve easy and love being around us (being hand fed the hay) this will bring the home property back to all Red calves. So by next season both properties with hold Red Polls. Santa is the only exception but he has such an awesome nature, that I am not ready to let him go. He has won my heart and is pretty fabulous looking. Everyone has been NAIT tagged and drenched several times- but we must say that Red polls are excellent growing, hardy cattle with exceptional natures and gorgeous dispositions. We have gone through all the extra small hay bales we had stored, purchased 3 big rounds which they have really enjoyed.

The other day we were also fortunate enough to have scored 39 bales of silage from a local run off block which a lease farmer had left behind. Then we got to thinking maybe we should increase our herd and lease the vacant 100 acre block. After a brief meeting with the landowner and a heck of a shock at lease prices (was like a mortgage - we didn’t want to buy it just grow some more little masterpieces) so as you have probably worked out, we will just continue on our happy LITTLE quest with smaller numbers, less land but just as much passion and pride in what we are breeding here.

I think we have spent several weekends putting our fence on the roadside back up because the wind has also been playing nasty games. Quite sure our fancy neighbours think we are crazy fixing it all the time however they have no idea how determined we are.

The house is looking much improved with replaced weatherboards, the painting is on hold until further notice (and better weather).

GP is doing great - you wouldn’t know he had a triple by-pass - so very relieved and happy to have all this extra time to share.

Hope everyone has a safe and health calving to come.

Best Wishes and Stay Warm Jamie, Kaye and GP

FROM THE EDITOR

Hi Everyone, Again thanks to those who contributed to this newsletter. Don’t forget the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words – so send me photos! Preferably with captions that explain which animal/s or person/people it is.

Helen

RANGITIHI REPORT Feed got tight but we had enough and that was in large part due to having parts of the farm in kikuyu grass which manages well enough through the dry with just occasional showers. We are lucky with having access to good stock water from stream and springs.

We had our ponds cleaned out during the late summer and the springs feeding them managed to fill them again.

We have weaned our first crop of calves and twenty of them went to new owners yesterday after weaning in the yards. They are all well grown and make for an even looking line of heifers and steers. Once again we are delighted with the quiet temperament of Red Polls which wean so easily and are so easy to handle. We still have seven later born calves to wean which are still getting plenty of milk from their four year-old mothers. The condition of adult cattle is a testimony to the ability of Red Polls to do well, often in tough conditions.

Half of the farm has been limed and some has had several treatments with liquid fert and some with traditional phosphate mixes. Hopefully we will get some winter growth as temperatures have been unusually warm. During summer we brought some rough land into new grass which is taking well.

We are helping our daughter Joanne and her partner Rob get into Red Polls and will be passing on some of our breeding cows to help them get started and these will be along with heifer calves for future breeding.

Best wishes to you all Gena and Robin Shepherd

TAMIHANA REPORT

Winter in most of Taranaki started with a long dry period that made Wintering cattle a breeze. With no pasture damage, and both grass & supplement in plentiful supply.

Too good to be true? Yes, sadly, it came to an end at the very end of June, when the rains started & haven’t stopped since. Still good feed supply, but it’s hard to avoid pasture damage. I was hoping for a famine somewhere along the line, as we have 285 large wrapped bales to sell. Usually rely on conventional [small] hay bales for the Winter, as they are easy to feed from the quad-bike, which means minimal mess when the ground becomes saturated, as always happens on the west coast.

However, with so many wraps available, decided to buy an old M.F. 275 four wheel drive [in good condition], with crowd action loader to shift the big bales, & are feeding the thirty eight R1 steers & heifers in a cradle feeder that was purchased at C.D. Field-days, back in March. Can’t wait for the Summer to shift some dirt with ‘the old girl’.

Numbers are down to thirty cows to calve, starting mid August. All are in calf to Tamihana Dan’s Jason, or A.B. New herd-sire was born last Spring; Tamihana Red Max, by Raedean Maximus, will be used this coming mating season. He’s looking good, with excellent growth rate since weaning.

Have had the pleasure of helping to establish some new herds over the last couple of seasons, consequently down to thirty cows. Have also had good demand for bulls, with one chap wanting to lease a yearling. When he arrived with a friend, after driving about four hours; “Oh”, he said, “These are better than I expected, can I buy one?” Had his own trailer, so the cheque was written out there & then.

Hopefully the new President & Secretary will understand that REGISTRATIONS not ever rising fees, are vital for the survival & hopefully expansion of our valued by some, Breed Association.

Robin Thomson

Tamihana CP Selena. Dam of Tamihana Red Max

 Red Max sired by Raedean Maximus; with his Dam, Tamihana CP Selena

98TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & HERD TOUR, TARARUA & SOUTHERN HAWKES BAY Sunday 14th April to Tuesday 16th April, 2019

Sunday 14th: 11.00am A pleasing turnout of members arrived at Kelvin & Kath Lane’s, Kaihinau Stud in good time. Kelvin had gathered one of his commercial cow mobs into a roadside paddock for easy viewing. It was nice to see a good number of animals in one place. There were a few Red Poll cross dairy cows in the mob too with very nice calves. Kath and family provided the usual great lunch which was held in their new house (well - refurbished actually, and swapped with family). It is only a short way down the road from their previous home.

 Athol & Betty Sowry indulge in a refreshing cup of tea at Lane’s

After lunch we travelled down the road where Kelvin was keen for us to see his old Garthmyl bull, Garthmyl Vidar, now coming up 9 years old. He was running with a second group of cows. Kelvin had bought two weaner bulls, G. Vidar & G. Victor from the late Ken Elliot’s Garthmyl Stud at the 2011 Helmsman Sale held in Ashburton.

From Lane’s we travelled on to Athol and Betty Sowry’s Athbey herd just out of Woodville. Once again a larger number of cows, with some particularly impressive daughters of Athbey Clarence; good depth of body and consistent in type. Clarence was by Puketi Phoenix out of Dawn Mist Man’s Cleo (latter by Willow Lea Southern Man).

Members were asked to pick a new bull or two for Athol from his bull calves that were still on their dams. An interesting exercise! 14

 Bull calves and their dams at Athol & Betty Sowry’s

Some members took time out to cast their eyes over Athol’s light plane and his pet Allis Chalmers tractor before we retired inside to have afternoon tea. We stayed the night at a motel in Waipukurau. It must have been a quiet night as we walked around to a very nice licensed restaurant to find barely any other customers. We certainly got good service there!

Monday 15th 9.00am: We left Waipukurau to visit Andrew & Ruth Pinfold’s Woodham Rye herd, at their recently acquired farm, “Totaranui”, at Onga Onga. What a beautiful farm; a nice mix of rolling and medium hill and fertile flats with several areas of native bush. Unusually the whole farm is a QEII covenanted block. Normal farm activities are fine as long as they don’t infringe on the native areas. A big change from dairying. Andrew and Ruth and their girls now have a sheep and beef farm with feed crops also grown. They like the Red Polls because of their foraging abilities.The house is quite historic, with an absolutely fabulous garden containing a variety of quite rare and unusual plants. It has its own micro climate and this allows the growing of several different vireya rhododendrons amongst the other shrubs. Also plenty of room for pets with the girls’ ponies, rabbits, goats, Ruth’s horses, two pug dogs and an absolutely beautiful Labrador pup of Andrew’s. 15

Some of Pinfold’s purebred females. Dairy & dairy x calves in the background

After some beautiful homemade hummingbird cake and a quick coffee/tea we headed back out to State Highway 50 and north to Maraekakaho for lunch at the “Chook & Filly” country pub. Fairly new premises and a rural outlook. Very tasty lunches and a welcoming ambience.

 Red Poll breeders take over at the “Chook and Filly”

Kokako Farms’ herd on Ohiti Road, Hastings, was our final herd stop for the Tour. Literally, surrounded by vineyards on the flats, with some nice medium hills behind. We were met by Bruce and the farm herdswoman, Becky Hindmarsh. (It was a pleasant surprise to find they still had a Rosemarkie bull in use, Rosemarkie Mort’s Puriatahu, aka “Big Red”, now a 7 year old – as his breeders, Warwick and I were pleased to see his feet and body had held up well; also nice and clean in the sheath. Photo back cover – Editor)

Bruce is overall operations manager for the farms, specialising in the vineyards, while Becky runs the livestock side of the properties. The owner is Mr Evan Davies from Auckland. His daughters own the Red Poll stud under the Kokako Farms prefix. Approximately 1000 lambs are fattened on the farm and vineyards. Previously some of the land has been leased for grazing young bulls but that finishes this year. The eventual aim is to have 100 Angus cows and 50 Red Poll cows. This year the Red Poll stud had 9 heifer and 3 bull calves. They are also using a young Athbey Stud bull, Athbey Elmo.

 Red Poll and Angus cows which run together at Kokako Farms

The final night’s accommodation was at Porters Hotel in Havelock North. A modern hotel – fairly upmarket; a nice view from our second floor balcony. The hotel is literally in the centre of the township. The Annual Dinner was at the hotel’s Malo Restaurant – also upmarket. The food justified the expense though!

We moved out to the largish hotel lobby for our after dinner speaker, Bruce Nimon. Bruce gave us a brief overview of his origins and then spoke on his involvement in the wine industry and vineyard management.

Bruce was born and bred in the Hawke’s Bay. His dad was a local Angus stud breeder and contractor. Bruce attended Massey University and completed a landscaping degree which he put to good use in Australia for some time. On his arrival back in New Zealand he retrained as a winemaker. He worked in two local vineyards and then opened a vineyard and winery, “Lucknow” Estate”. He was kept very busy managing that and it was not unusual for him to spray a vineyard in the morning and then drive to Wellington for a wine tasting, stay the night, and back to the vineyard spraying the next day. He exited the vineyard just before the pinch occurred in the Wine Industry. He decided he preferred growing the grapes rather than making wine. He was advised to apply to Evan Davies at Kokako Farms. Evan wished to move Kokako from being a bulk producer to premium brands. More ground was added – another 25hectares of gravels. The farm now consists of 100 hectares in grapes, 10 hectares in apple orchards and 200 hectares of grazing land for the cattle. These three regimes are complementary with the seasonal labour requirements working in together. The vineyard now grows 100% for Villa Maria, specialising in Chardonnay, growing the grapes in 5 Villa Maria Chardonnay parcels of land. They have around 187,000 vines – the equivalent of 750,000 bottles of wine! Value has risen from $1100 tonne (bulk production) up to $3,500 today for the premium brand.

The vineyard only does hand pruning – they jokingly refer to it as the Kokako Weight loss programme. They employ around 6 to 8 back packers. Temperatures can be between 40 - 50°C in the vineyards in the summer. From the beginning of spring onwards, they spray, using organic sprays every 10 days. Once the grapes begin to colour up they must stop spraying. 90% 18 are machine picked and the rest are handpicked. In 2014 they entered the Ballance Farm Environment Awards (East Coast) and won the Soil Management Award. Kokako Farms is aiming for sustainability in all aspects of the farms. Biological farming is more expensive, but worth it. Nine pasture species make up a herbal lay between the vine rows. This encourages humus development. All those present found Bruce a very interesting speaker.

Tuesday 16th April: 9.00am: the Annual General Meeting was held in the Exchange room of Porters Hotel – exactly the right size - not too big, not too small! See your Minutes for details.

Those attending the 2019 Herd Tour Photo: David Brougham L-R Neil Wilton, Helen Bridson, Alan Bridson, Judy Evans, Graeme Evans, Kelvin Lane & Kath Lane, Robert McLeod, Anne McSweeney, Helen McKenzie, Warwick Potts (obscured), Anita & Ian Fleming

HERD TOUR PHOTOS 2019

Garthmyl Vidar at Lane’s Ruth’s Shire cross mare & daughter’s pony at Pinfold’s

Farm sign at Betty & Athol Sowry’s RP & Angus weaners – Kokako Farm

Cow & bull calf at Sowry’s Dessert at Malo Restaurant -panacotta

UK PHOTOS + 1 NZ

Lavenham Kirstie at Suffolk Show, 2019. Lady Wheatfield Future, Three Counties 2019. Getty’s Show manager, Denise Thomas & Owner Anthea Daw & daughter, Imogen Judge, Terry Mancey

Little Linton Ferdinand, National RP Show Hopeham Fauzie, Norfolk Show 2019. Owner Champion & Interbreed Native Champion at Sarah Barnes & Judge, Denis Jenkins Hertsfordshire Show, 2019.

Pinguis Duke, Cheshire Show 2019; owner John Cow at Rosemarkie. Photo: Ruth Pinfold Williams, Judge Joy Broughton

UK NEWS from the Secretary, Ray Bowler My travels May – June 2019 Similar to last year these 6 weeks were very busy what with shows and visiting members, together with a visit into Scotland. I don’t propose to do a diary as last year but rather a summary of where I went and who I visited with specific detail as required.

Starting with Wednesday May 15th I drove up to Ayr in Scotland picking up Joy Broughton & Mark Martin on the way. The reason for the visit was to accept an invitation by Neogen Europe to visit their laboratory, and office facility, to look around and hear about the Igenity Beef Profile scheme that we are evaluating all our bulls by. There were 12 members of the Society attending who all had a fascinating day coming away with a far better understanding of the scheme. Neogen were excellent hosts as was the weather in Ayr as after the day at Neogen we were able to have a walk along the sea front, harbour and into the town for a drink in the Robbie Burns pub, the Tam O’Shanter Inn. Friday saw the drive home which, including dropping off Mark & Joy, took me just over 12hrs - oh what fun our motorway system is at times.

Monday 20th saw me driving back up north again to attend Beef Expo at Junction 36 Auction Mart, Kendal. This was on the Thursday but I went early to enable me to visit members in the area who I don’t get to see very often. Leaving home at 8.00am I called in to visit Nick & Su Holsey, Hepworth, Huddersfield. They milk about 70 Aryshire and Ayrshire Cross Red Polls together with a small suckler herd of cross bred cattle, again mainly Red Poll crosses. A few of the milking cows are now 100% Red Polls. AI has been used in the past but they are now looking for a Red Poll bull to use on the sucklers and to be a sweeper bull on the dairy cows. The cows are milked through a robot milking machine, cubicle housed and fed mainly forage with concentrates fed in the parlour according to yield. In the summer the cows have access to grazing between morning milking and about lunch time. The herd averages just over 7,000litres per cow but what I was particularly impressed with were the yields of the Red Polls which were up to average with one pure-bred cow having achieved over 8,500litres in her previous lactation, her sire being Bowland Zeus who we consider being one of our 22 more beefier bulls, the dual purpose characteristics certainly coming through. Thank you to Nick and Su for lunch, much appreciated. Monday evening saw me with Simon & Sally Temple, who were providing the cattle for the stand at Beef Expo. Simon is cutting numbers back due to various health issues, however the quality of the retained stock is of a very high standard. It was a pleasure to walk around the stock in the evening sunlight and to have a fantastic evening meal, thank you.

Tuesday 21st saw me travel to the farm of Peter Fowler situated in the Yorkshire Dales between Sedburgh and Dent. I have met Peter on several occasions but had never been to his farm. The farm is managed on a day to day basis by Kevin Milburn who has been born and bred in the area. It is a typical dales farm with a mixture of hill and moorland. It is harsh country but the cattle thrive up there. The herd consists of 15 cows plus followers together with a flock of about 150 Dales-bred ewes. Nobodys Eclispe has been the herd sire for the past 3 years but now needs moving on as his daughters are coming into the herd, hopefully I will be able to sell him. Peter has recently purchased a new bull, Appleton Huggabull from Tony Barratt. He will start work immediately, let’s hope he gets his mountaineering legs as he will have to walk and climb long distances to catch his ladies! The weather was perfect for me, I walked up the hill onto the moor in glorious sunshine to view the cattle in a stunning surrounding, however I wouldn’t want to be there when it rains, as it frequently does, but on that day fantastic. People ask me what I like about the job, well on days like that you don’t need to ask.

In the afternoon I went to Richard & Rachel Clowes’s farm in Blacko, again what a place to visit in the sunshine. I have been there a few times before; in fact we had a Field day there a few years ago. Nothing much has changed there apart from a percentage of the herd has been mated with a Bazadaise bull to produce a beefier calf for sale as weanlings. Richard is very happy with the maternal traits of the cows but for sale locally needs a continental cross calf. So far he is very impressed with the calves.

Wednesday 22nd saw me visiting the Limestones herd of Bill Grayson. Bill grazes his cattle on numerous sites for the Lancashire and Cumbria Wildlife Trusts together with several sites for the National Trust. Recently he has gone 23 into partnership with Sally Hempsall, who has been assisting him run the sites for several years but is now taking over more responsibility particularly for the cattle that graze the famous Ingleborough Hill. Again what glorious weather for walking in this splendid countryside, I did wonder at times if we would ever find the cattle on the hill tops but sure enough there they were as happy as Larry, very content in their environment. Apparently, according to Sally, by the time we got back to Bill’s for lunch we had walked some 10 miles up hill and down dale, not something us southern softies are used to, well yours truly in any case.

I collected Mark Martin from Arnside train station, Mark had come up to assist me in setting up and manning the stand at Beef Expo the following day. We all went to view a selection of Bill’s cows and calves that were grazing land overlooking the marshes and Morecombe Bay. Later in the season the cattle will go onto the marshes to graze but not until the calves are big enough to look after themselves a bit as they can soon be lost down there. 4.00pm saw us arrive at Junction 36 Market to set up the stand and settle in the cattle which had been delivered by Simon’s stock-lady Nicole. That was easier said than done as the Society has a new display stand for this year and it was the first time we had put it up, I think we should have had a run through before-hand as it wasn’t as easy as we thought and took a few attempts to get it correct – I’m getting expert at it now having put it up and down on several occasions.

Beef Expo. A very busy and bustling day talking to numerous persons about the breed. Our pitch was on the main walkway into the show which was good as everyone had to pass by. The cattle were first class with a pen of two 18 month old steers creating lots of attention. In the other pen was Bowland Yolande and her 3mth old calf. She is an outstanding cow and still looks impressive despite her 11yrs. She has won numerous championships at various shows through the years, with probably her best accolade being Breed Champion, at the National Show at Suffolk in 2015. John Williams also came up to assist on the stand but if I’m honest it was disappointing that no other members attended the event. This is the showpiece event for the industry; we must continue to attend, we may not get any new members on the day but it’s surprising how many new members 24 we get from the event even several years down the line. As you know the event moves around the country so that everyone has the chance to attend at some time. Thank you to Mark & John for assisting with stand duty and for Simon for providing the cattle and attending on the day to give his support.

Friday 24th saw me driving back south to set up the stand at the Hertfordshire Show, St. Albans as this year it was our National Show. I dropped Mark off on the way. A big thank you to Gill Martin for providing me with an excellent lunch. I’m not going to say much about the National Show as a report on that will be elsewhere in this Newsletter [UK only - Editor] but what a fantastic event it was, culminating with Sam Taylor and Little Linton Ferdinand being named Breed Champion who also went on to become Inter- breed Champion the next day. The whole weekend was excellent. Thank you to Terina and Joy for organising the marquee and to Sally Grimwood for doing sterling work in providing light refreshments the whole time. Also thank you to all the exhibitors for attending, with I feel, a particular thanks to Anthea & Jeff Daw and to John & Sandy Davies for coming all the way from Somerset to exhibit. Also thanks to Mark Cheetham for judging.

One day at home and then it was off to the Suffolk Show on Tuesday 28th May. Again I’m not going to go into any detail about the show as it will be reported on elsewhere. There were 38 quality animals forward with congratulations going to Lady Getty, and Denise Thomas and her team for being Champion with Lavenham Kirstie. A big thank you to Terry Mancey for judging. The 29th & 30th were taken up at the show, meeting and greeting various members, and potential new ones - a very successful and worthwhile event. As at the Hertfordshire Show it was very pleasing to see such a good number of animals shown by the Colleges. The students are certainly doing an excellent job. It’s a pity Writtle didn’t attend this year but hopefully they will be back next year.

A couple of weeks off from travelling now to catch up on office work and teaching commitments at Writtle but Thursday 13th June soon came around which saw me travelling to Malvern to the Three Counties Show. Wow what a journey, torrential rain all the way which was still coming down when I arrived. The show ground was awash, it’s good that there are many roadways 25 there or else it could be horrendous. The three day show was spoilt by the atrocious weather. It didn’t actually rain for the judging but made up for it at other times. Congratulations to Anthea & Jeff Daw for being Champion in the main show with Wheatfield Future, shown suckling her 2nd calf and to Pat McLaughlin with Marsh House Winifred’s Eliza being Champion in the Rare Breed Classes the following day. A few weeks previously Pat rang me to ask if I could show Eliza for her. I said of course I could. I didn’t expect to win at all so it was a real surprise to become Champion. To cap it off Stephen Williams, with Pinguis Frederick, teamed up with me in the Inter-breed pairs and we were made Champions of that, great news for all concerned and for the breed in general. Thank you all who exhibited and to Andrew Kirk for judging the first day and John Butler for judging day 2.

Monday 17th June saw me on my way to visit Daniel Powell at Halway House, Shrewsbury. Daniel is a new member who has gone into the breed in a big way. He has previously had a suckler herd of some 100 Simmentals and up to 500 Angus finishing cattle. However due to difficulties with calving and the price of concentrate feed Daniel has decided to go organic and to rear all the cattle on forage only. He did his research and has decided that Red Polls are the way forward as the maternal animal with the Angus as the terminal sire, however at present he is building up his numbers so is breeding everything pure. 48 cows calved this spring with a further 25 bulling heifers going to the bull as well, his aim being to have about 160 suckler cows in 3 years’ time. 36 heifer calves have been born this spring so he is well on the way. Cattle have been purchased from the dispersed Dodds, Quidney and Longdendale herds together with bulling heifers from the Dodds and Pochin herds. The cattle graze on re-seeded fields plus some excellent permanent pasture which are herb and clover rich. Electric strip fencing is moved twice daily to provide an abundance of fresh grass with excellent quality silage made for the winter. The aim is for no concentrates to be fed. Recently purchased Woldsman Freddie had been running with the herd but a very unfortunate injury to one of his feet had meant he had had to be slaughtered, 2 young Angus bulls from the fattening yard were running with the herd at present but a Red Poll replacement bull was hoped to be purchased in the

26 near future – Subsequent to my visit Daniel has purchased Nobody’s Eclispse from Peter Fowler. This herd is an exciting prospect for the future of the breed, it will be very interesting to see how the enterprise progresses.

On my way to the Cheshire show later in the afternoon, I called in to see John William’s cattle, in particular Boseley Poppy 44th who was purchased by John at the Boseley dispersal sale. Poppy has very interesting blood lines which the Breeding Committee thought should be preserved so John purchased her. She has calved a very nice bull calf, Pinguis Jacob, whose sire is Boseley Buccaneer, a Mistley Linking Licias son, who again the Breeding Committee thought had interesting blood lines. The idea is that Jacob will have semen collected from him, as long as he is of a good type and passes inspection, which can then be used by society members through AI. It has been decided that Poppy will be inseminated with Kirton Controller semen who once more the Breeding Committee thought should have blood lines preserved from. It was thought that we didn’t have any more semen from Controller however with the dispersal of the Boseley Herd last autumn, Simon Phelps had some in his flask which he donated to the Society together with numerous straws of other semen which we had limited stocks of. It will be interesting to see how young Jacob develops - at present he has had an excellent start in life so watch this space.

I then went to the Cheshire Show at Knutsford to set up for the show the following 2 days. I should have said that all day on the Monday it had continued to rain heavily and wow what a state the show ground was, mud everywhere, vehicles getting stuck getting onto the ground it was carnage it really was.

Tuesday 18th show day, it finally stopped raining for the actual judging. The rings were very wet but actual showing went very well. Congratulations to John Williams and Pinguis Frederick for becoming Champion, thank you to Joy Broughton for judging. A steady number of members to talk to but the weather had certainly put the public attendance down considerably.

Wednesday 19th and oh my, the weather was awful, it had started raining during the night and hadn’t stopped, everywhere was awash with mud like you’ve never seen. Still the show must go on, in fact it stopped raining again for the actual showing on day 2. The second day of the show is Rare Breed day which is great for us as we get a second chance in the show ring. Helen Arthan had asked me if I would take her yearling heifer, Chorlton Lane I – I into the ring as she had played up the previous day, I think she may have been bulling, anyway I said I would. Amazingly she was 1st in the heifer class, then Female Champion and then Breed Champion and to cap it off she was Reserve Inter-Breed Champion as well. What a fantastic result for Helen and for yours truly but to be honest all I did was to take her into the ring, admittedly I did show her off well though. Well after a very wet and soggy 2 days I then went to stay with my Brother, just outside Halifax, for a couple of nights R & R.

Friday 21st saw me start on my journey south. On the way I called in to see Ebony Prior, Worksop. Ebony has only been a member for just over a year purchasing 2 in-calf cows, suckling heifer calves from the Prescott’s last year and 4 animals at the Melton Sale in the autumn. Ebony’s parents used to milk Red Polls up until about 15yrs ago when they retired. Ebony has now taken over the farm and wanted to start keeping Red Polls again. At present the small herd looks well, it will be interesting to see how things progress over the next few years.

Next port of call was to new members Paul and Alison Wisden, Braunston-in- Rutland. They recently purchased 11 heifers at the Melton spring sale. Previously having a herd of pedigree Herefords they have decided to go onto a forage based system but have found that the Hereford can’t do this, they need to have some concentrates to finish so after much research have decided to try the Red Polls. Four of the heifers purchased were in-calf for autumn calving, the others being bulling heifers requiring a bull. They wanted a quiet, halter trained youngster, Capel Manor Horace, fitted the bill. He will certainly be in his element in his new home. The plan is to have of herd of about 25 cows producing forage reared beef for sale to local restaurants, another project which will be interesting to follow in the coming years.

Tuesday 25th June, up to Norwich, to the Norfolk show for the next 2 days. I’m not going to go into too much detail as that will appear elsewhere but what a pleasant change to have glorious weather. Congratulations to Sarah & Gerald Barnes and assistants Lara Cakebread and Amber-Marie Adams for winning the Breed Championship for the 3rd time running, with Hopeham Fauzie, what an impressive bull he is. Well done to Lara for winning the College Challenge and to Emily Groom for being best Red Poll Young handler in the Open Beef Young handler classes. A very good entry of 34 animals forward, thank for to Denis Jenkins for judging.

Two days talking to members, new and old, brought to an end a very busy period for myself but all very satisfying and rewarding doing what I love to do visiting farms, talking to members, viewing fantastic cattle many in some of the most glorious parts of the country, long may it continue.

Ray Bowler Society Secretary [UK]

Red Poll Society (UK)

If you would like to join to the Red Poll Cattle Society (UK) contact [email protected] or write to:

The Secretary, 1 Nabbott Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 2SW

The overseas membership subscription is £30 sterling; includes three issues a year of the newsletter.

The newsletter is also available to view on line gratis.

EVANLEA REPORT

Times are a changing down on the farm. Judy has just retired from teaching and I am worried that she will now find out how little work I do these days.

The weather has been very good as we have still got spare grass available in July. On a normal season crops would be fed off from mid June.

It is nice to have an old fashioned season with frosts to harden the grass and get rid of surplus bugs that have had a good year with a warm climate earlier in the year.

The cows are in good order if not a little too well fed. Only hay at this stage but balage when, or if, the weather decides to cut up rough.

Calving due to start at the end of July and looking forward to a good crop of calves this year.

I am going to cut down on cow numbers next year and will have some surplus animals available. This will enable me to have more spare time and to do other things.

All young stock are still on grass only but will be on supplementary feed by the middle of July.

Spent a holiday in New Caledonia mid May and thoroughly enjoyed the break.

Next holiday will be South Africa next March for the World Congress.

Graeme & Judy Evans

News From Canada We primarily sell bulls to the commercial cattle breeders (usually 20 plus per year) as well as lot’s of heifers when there is a demand. If you recall when I gave an update at the Congress there are not very many breeders in Canada with most in Ontario and the east coast. Having said that we have a herd of 65 cows and calves as well as 24 replacement bred heifers so when we cull this October we should end up with 80 plus going into calving season. Our farm registers more calves than all the rest of Canada so you can see why we try to get small herds established with our heifer sales.

Cattle ranching is quite different here as we calve in March, hopefully after the real cold weather has passed (minus 30’s in February) and still have a bull calf ready for breeding by the next June to August for the commercial market. Cattle are separated into bunches and turned out on new pasture with their bull on June first. Bulls are pulled mid July and calves are weaned in October. We rotational graze and with three different groups it means we are moving cattle almost every day from the start of June till September. We usually start feeding the animals sometime in October till next June.

With the long feeding season we need between 600 and 800 of the big round bales and that is what we try to do during July and August. Mostly put up a legume / grass mix hay and some greenfeed. If it gets to late then we have to wrap silage as the weather gets cooler and the days shorter so the hay/greenfeed will not dry. Talking about the length of days during the growing season in June/July when the grass should be growing up to an inch per day, the sun comes up at four am and sets at ten pm but it only really gets dark for a couple of hours. But we pay for it in the winter when we only get six hours of daylight.

Will attach some pictures. One is the cows sunning themselves at fort below, one is first turn out on new grass and the last is two week later.

Dean & Marsha Anderson

February 3rd 2019. Minus 40°C. Dean & Marsha’s cows, Canada

Cows & calves enjoying the new grass at Anderson’s, Canada

CROFTHEAD REPORT

Our stud is now 2 years young and the amount of learning that has gone on in those last 2 years is immense. Robert is constantly surprised by the differences in the soil and land management between our previous home (Taranaki) and the lovely Wairarapa.

The bulk of the fencing is nearly complete and we still have all our fingers (just in some cases), and are looking at building a wee home for ourselves soon. However, the industry being what it currently is, starting soon will mean completing around early 2021.

Our herd has grown with the purchase of 2 rising 3-year-old heifers from Rosemarkie and 2 rising 5-year-old cows from Tamihana. This completes our buying in (or so he tells me) and we are now learning the meaning of “homegrown”. Fourteen to calve, and given the poor season we had last year, we are hoping the lessons learned will prove worthwhile and that the season will be much smoother than last year. Our girls are looking pretty healthy and certainly a lot leaner that last season which seemed to the biggest concern. The bull is Halcyon Hills Tawari, a rising 2-year-old, so a little bit of an unknown element there but he is a bit narrower in the shoulder than previous bulls. Fingers crossed.

Robert had a fabulous time on the herd tour; not just because he got away from me for a few days. I was sorry not to be able to join in this year.

A word to the wise – attend the AGM or you will be given a job, apparently. Huge thanks to the Hawkes Bay members for hosting a great event.

With a fairly mild Winter to date we hope you are all keeping nice and warm and may all your calves come on warm, sunny days

Kirsty & Robert

Crofthead Montana Ruby

A BIT OF HISTORY Red Poll Cattle TO BE JUDGED BY WOMAN National Library (Papers Past) Bay of Plenty Times, 30 July 1932 Mrs P R Woodhouse, of “Bluecliffs”, South Canterbury, who will be the judge of the Red Poll cattle at the Royal Show in Palmerston North in November, will be the first woman to judge stock at Royal shows in the Dominion. ------I quote from the breed history, ‘Mrs Woodhouse remembers: - “My first assignment was for the Royal Show at Palmerston North in 1932. I would not have chosen a Royal for my initiation but I survived this and subsequent shows, both Royal and provincial.”

J.M. Campbell’s Adderstone Quality was awarded the male Championship. Fielding Agricultural High School’s Tutamai Amaranth carried off the female championship

ROSEMARKIE REPORT A bit muddy this year, certainly compared with the last two. We hosted a NZ Clydesdale Horse Society judging day a few weekends ago and the weather was perfect. We’ve bought a Raedean Maximus sired weaner from a local herd owned by Ollie Wylie and Tina Theedom – not as far ahead as the one in Robin Thomson’s Tamihana Report photo but still a nice calf. He was out of a 2 yr old dam. Will be interesting to see how he compares with the four bulls we kept entire – not all will be staying! The bulk of the cows are in good condition present. Looks like one of the R 3’s may be dry. She lost a very small calf last year so will be heading to the Works if nothing happens this year. We’ve just scored some rough grazing from a lifestyle neighbor so the 18 month animals, steers and heifers, think they’ve died and gone to heaven – will not need to feed out to them for a while. I’m hoping that I might keep an R3 as a house cow this year. I plan to leave the calf on and just take it off for the night, get some milk and then run with mum till next time. The heifer had a calf with contracted tendons last year. Tried to save it but no joy. Had L15 in the bale to milk for the calf. She was very good and did not kick so I’m hoping might oblige for me this year. I’m willing to offer bribery and corruption in the form of baleage.

 Red Poll weaners at Rosemarkie in May 2019. Photo: Ruth Pinfold

BIOLOGICAL FARMING by Bruce Nimon, Kokako Farms My journey along biological farming started with Kokako farms vineyard in 2007, weed problems I had never seen in a vineyard before, crop issues based around sugar accumulation or the lack of and soil born diseases affecting rootstocks. About the same time my wife and I purchased a small lifestyle block of 25ha and we wanted to run it organically so the information gain served two purposes.

A very good friend and an amazing women Nicole Masters put me in touch with a group a people ABF Association of Biological farmers, I went on to serve on their committee for several years.

First thing in our chemical system that had to stop was glyphosate. Years of weed spraying the strip under the vine created a bacterial soil system that housed every problem weed you can imagine.

Two great books to help on weeds are, “NZ Common Weeds in Colour” complied by E.A Upritchard for the NZ Weed and Pest Control Society and ‘Weeds and Why They Grow’ by Jay L. McCaman.

One helps identify what you have, the other helps to work out why! For us it was compaction, bacterial, low in calcium and high in copper that had nettle running the place.

After time, and some knowledge gain, we had a system repairing itself. I then took over the Hill farm and started running the same practices where possible on the farm. Likewise on my own farm we progressed to Organic registration with Organic Farms NZ.

All urea use must stop; it’s poison. Herbicide use (selective and non-selective) has a huge cost to the soil and must be reduced and paid for with biology boosting inputs.

When I have to use any input (soil or animal) I ask myself this question, “What is the impact to my soil biology?” Second question is, “Is there an alternative that has less impact or even a beneficial impact”?

I am a realist and sometime you have to do certain things in farming so I then just look at how I can pay for those sins!

Pasture is the easiest of all farming systems to adopt biological farming. Permanent crops like grapes are a lot harder and slower.

Pasture mix and pasture rotation are the best way to change a system. Holistic grazing is gaining mainstream following, even a modified version of this can return animal health results, calving ease, pregnancy rate increase, worm burden reduction. There is a saying “Graze a third, trample a third and leave a third”. This works once you have biology to break down the tramped third and the left third grows grass much faster than pasture taken to the boards. “Grass grows grass” was the term I used when talking at the Herd Tour. If a mature grass plant is grazed to 50%, the roots continue to grow, if 70% of that same grass plant is grazed then 50% of the roots stop working for 17 days, if 90% of the grass is grazed then 100% of the roots stop working for 17 days.

Herbs in pasture, for me, are a must; the list of potential plants is massive. But it can be as simple as untreated plantain seed put into feed for cows. The manure pats become fantastic plantain nurseries. Plantain is copper mining, has a long tap root that breaks up sub-soil pans, helps animals fight worm burden, reduces water pugging... the list goes on.

My go to list is Plantain, Chicory, Sub clover, Red clover, Strawberry clover, Gala Broome, Tall fescue, Cocksfoot, Timothy, multiple White clover options. For smaller farmers there are alternative health options based around animal licks. Also, “Natural Sheep Care” by Pat Coleby is a must have book. What an amazing lady and her options can be used on cattle, horses and of course sheep. Her book was my bible getting our home block organic and sheep to thrive. The Coleby lick can be purchased from http://www.fertilefields.co.nz/drupal/free_choice_minerals

Cattle are far easier to train on the lick compared with sheep and the results show a lot faster. But these products are just that, ‘products’ and you have to

37 understand and change the system. Often back to the way Granddad did things.

“What is the cattle wormer you use doing to the worms in your pasture?” There are options that are worm and dung beetle friendly. How fast a cow pat breaks down is a great gauge on your soil biology health, low numbers of fungi equal slow break down, slow return of that nutrient into the cycle, more inputs required to lift the system. Round and around you go.

Dung beetles were an option at home, it’s a slow long game as it takes three plus years them to establish, but now I have an army of helpers taking manure 150-200mm underground. Free slow release fertiliser.

My 10 cents worth; if you’re interested then follow ABF on Facebook, go to one of their field days and you will come back changed forever. Nicole Masters is the best person in NZ/Australia/USA on this stuff but she is in so much demand offshore it’s hard to get to see her. She does have a great DVD for sale, and often contributes to FB ABF discussions.

Regenerative Agriculture is profitable, the total number of stock you run will change, so will your shareholding in Ravensdown or Balance Agri-nutrients, so will the stress levels around weather forecasts and lack of rain or too much rain. Soils with high organic matter holds more water, are warmer in winter and higher in soil moisture in summer.

Reduced input farming is possible also, you have to decide to get off the train, look for alternatives as the answers will not be at PGG, RD1, Farmlands or the like, because they have nothing to sell you so have no advice to give on the system, its management or the outcomes.

Association of Biological farmers https://www.facebook.com/nzbiofarmers/

Digging Deeper DVD https://www.integritysoils.co.nz/product/digging-deeper-dvd/

USA NEWS Record breaking floods, record breaking acres not planted, went from winter to summer-had no spring, most hay harvested 3-4 weeks late so quality is poor, corn and soybeans 3-4 weeks behind normal in maturity. Mother Nature has a way of assuring us we are not in control. BUT the Red Polls are looking good.

We have just reorganized the National office. Just as in NZ the Red Poll breeders in the US are small in number but very dedicated to preserving this unique and valuable breed.

If any of you get to the US make sure you stop in to see a few Red Poll breeders. You are always welcome. Dan Schmiesing

PRESIDENT’S/EDITOR’S THOUGHT (She does think occasionally!)

Just wondered if there would be interest to put together a Red Poll calendar – not to be a printed version, just to go out on email, either NZ photos only or Overseas as well? No expense to the Association as those wanting it can just print off a copy for themselves.

Let me know or just send me some good photos – animals to be standing well; clean bottoms, calves tagged and no one else’s legs under its belly if a stand-alone animal! Picture to be high resolution digital or good 35mm. Not cropped or compressed please. Can be historic but in colour if possible.

Photos Back Cover: Top: Cows with bull calves at Athbey Stud. Foreground is Athbey Wilfred by Athbey Louis out of Athbey Wilhelmine (Note: not his dam behind him)

Bottom: Rosemarkie Puriatahu (G22-12) by R. Trounce Morton ex R. Ego Puriri. Senior herd sire at Kokako Farms. (Had pour-on that morning!)