Breeding Objective
It’s all about profitability…
It’s no easy life for the Totaranui cow. She spends the hard winter months behind the ewes when ground conditions allow, cleaning up the pastures, just as the commercial farmer would expect of her.
Totaranui run two separate stud cow herds; one to generate high value A+ two year old bulls and the other to generate low birth weight yearling bulls. Our yearling bulls are not second class citizens, they’re bred specifically for heifer mating in the beef and dairy markets.
While docility and structure are paramount in all our animals, they are now a given as we won’t breed from an unsound animal. Fertility is bred into our herd, so to speak, as we’ve mated all the yearling heifers for over 35 years.
The cows are never given a second chance in this commercial hill country environment. They must calve and rear their calf as a two year old and then get back in calf every year thereafter. Any glitches and she’s down the road, no second chances. This has also had a major contribution to our high fertility.
Profitability is the bottom line and the Totaranui Angus bloodlines grow fast, have a high yield and marbling, and consequently perform well for our clients.
The big shift towards improving carcase and eating quality happened in the early 1990s when John Jackson travelled to the USA on a bull scouting trip with AngusPure’s Guy Sargent and others. John was wholeheartedly behind Guy’s ethos of improving the marbling within grass fed Angus beef here in New Zealand, and set about searching for sires that would increase the IMF and EMA of the Totaranui herd, whilst still maintaining soundness and the mature cow size.
AI enables us to utilise the newest, most progressive genetics available from across the globe every year and both John and Daimien still travel to the USA each Autumn, to ensure they can carefully inspect the bulls they’re using in the herd.
At Totaranui we’re looking to target the discerning farmer who wants more than just another black bull. The farmer that understands the true benefits of technology and demands more than just a grazing tool to aid his sheep programme.
It’s ultimately about profitability and the progeny from your high performance bulls should contribute more to your bottom line.
2 Year Bulls
The premium Angus bull for this market doesn’t disappoint. He’s recognised with an A+ endorsement from AngusPure, meaning he’s genetically blessed to leave progeny that will perform well, both in your self-replacing farming system and with superior carcass qualities, especially IMF.
Growth is a strong point, ensuring his progeny will finish quickly to meet the premium processing grades. The emphasis on structure and docility almost goes without saying now but we want to reassure you, we’re all over it.
Our Totaranui two year olds are a moderate hill country bull that will perform. It’s our guarantee.
Yearling Bulls
Totaranui yearling bulls have a strong data set for ease of calving. This makes them the perfect sire for heifer mating in both the beef and dairy industries. In saying this, they must still perform in the commercial hill country environment.
Their birth weight EBV must be less than 4 and we currently have an average of around BW 1.7.
Their progeny will add value within both the dairy and beef industries, as they grow well, weigh heavy on the hooks and marble well to meet the premium carcase grades available to farmers today.
