This year’s annual McFadzean Cattle Company yearling bull sale on September 8 will include the first offering of low-birthweight, short gestation, calving ease yearling bulls from its recently acquired herd.
Stud master Johnie McFadzean manages the company’s Meatmaker and Super Angus breeding programs plus the new Cruizy Calve Angus herd on the family’s property west of Carterton in Wairarapa. He says the 35 Cruizy Calve yearling bulls being offered at next month’s sale will be ideal for mating heifers in either dairy or beef herds.
Their search last year for a source of genuine low birthweight Angus cows to establish a top breeding herd led them to buying females from the Davie-Martin family’s Puketi Angus Stud at Waiotira, Northland.
“They have been producing one of New Zealand’s leading low birthweight calving ease herds with good growth rates for a number of years so when we heard they had some females for sale, we had to take a look,” Johnie says.
“We were really impressed with the cows. Craig and Don let us go pick for pick through their herd, so we ended up with 100 females including many trait leaders for calving ease. We also bought another 20 top females from Meadowslea in the South Island.”
The McFadzean Family calve 1500 beef cows and mate 450 heifers annually.
“The Cruizy Calve cows have been here on Glenbrae for the past 12 months, running on steep hills with the commercial cows. I’m really impressed with how docile and cruisy they are to manage and to calve.”
“At calving they are behind a wire because I have to catch, tag and weigh each calf, but they have great temperament so that’s an easy job. They calve within 30 minutes of starting and I haven’t had to help any of them.”
2022 calving has hit the ground running with calves being born between 5-23 days before their due date, weighing a healthy 25-32kg.
The sale venue is Glenbrae, 216 Wiltons Road, Carterton, and it starts with the Meat Maker and Super Angus yearling bulls followed by the low-birthweight Cruizy Calve Angus yearling bulls.
- For more information, visit mcfadzeancattlecompany.co.nz or phone Johnie McFadzean, 06 379 7401.
