Turihaua Angus Stud

Turihaua Angus, a stud founded in 1906, is Australasia’s oldest Angus cattle stud still operating. In 2011 its annual bull sale produced a record result for the stud, the breed and the cattle industry – 79 two-year-old bulls sold for an average of $9735, with top sales at $44,000 and $41,000, three sales over $20,000 and a sale gross of $770,000. By contrast, the 2010 Turihaua bull sale averaged $6352 and grossed less than $500,000.

The Williams family settled on the East Coast from 1840 onwards, when CMS missionary William Williams and his family relocated from Northland. One of his sons, James N. Williams, purchased the Turihaua property of 2000ha on the East Cape north of Gisborne in the 1890’s and founded the Turihaua Angus Stud in 1906, which was carried on by his son, A.B. Williams, grandson Bill Williams and great grandson Hamish Williams today. Hamish and Angela Williams have three children, Toby, Belinda and Paul. The property winters 18,000 livestock units which include over 400 registered Angus cows and yearling heifers mated to stud bulls every year.  All stud and commercial cattle, commercial sheep and farmed deer are pasture-fed, plus conserved fodder from the Turihaua property only. The farm runs between 400 and 500 commercial Angus cows and 5500 commercial Romney ewes, all mated to terminal sires. Turihaua has two annual bull sales – an auction of up to 90 two-year bulls in late June and another of 30 yearling bulls in September.

Turihaua is a 2000ha East Cape station which has medium-to-steep hill country and 1150mm annual rainfall, which is exposed to summer dry periods, droughts and tropical cyclones.

It is a self-contained property without purchased supplementary feed, relying on grazed pasture and conserved pasture. These are typical North Island hill country commercial farm conditions, where Turihaua breeds Angus bulls for sale to other hill country farmers.

The breeding programme is designed to produce early maturing animals with moderation in growth, milk and muscle. Turihaua’s objectives are excellence in fertility, structural soundness and carcass merit.

The herd is run under strictly commercial conditions on steep hill country and at high stocking rates. Both bulls and females are continually assessed for performance using objective measurement and visual appraisal.

Turihaua breeds over 100 bulls annually for sale as either one-year or two-year sires. They are all the progeny of registered and recorded bulls and cows/heifers. All recording is done on Group Breedplan and registration is by the NZ Angus Association.

Bull weighing was introduced by Bill Williams in the 1950’s and calf weighing at birth by son Marcus Williams in 1970’s.

All sale bulls have recorded details of genetics, weights and growth rates, along with estimated breeding values (EBVs) generated by Breedplan and indices generated from those EBVs – self-replacing index, ease of calving index and AngusPure index. All bulls sold are guaranteed for three years for fertility and soundness. They are serving capacity tested and must also pass a rigorous test for structural soundness, testicle size and confirmation by Eastland Vet Services.

Nine of the 79 bulls sold last June went to other Angus stud breeders at prices greater than $10,000.

At the first Queen of Hearts Angus heifer sale held at the 2011 Beef Expo in May, Lot 1, a pick of the 2010 Turihaua heifer drop, made $11,000.  Along with another Angus heifer which made the same price on the night, this is believed to be a record paid for an Angus female of that age in New Zealand. The Williams family donated the proceeds to the Christchurch Earthquake Relief Fund.

At the 2011 Beef Expo Angus National Sale which followed, Turihaua sold bulls at $21,000 and $20,000, both of these bulls having come from the FMG Angus Bull Evaluation Unit in Manawatu.

The first Turihaua yearling bull sale in September resulted in 27 sold for an average of $4573, with a top price of $7500 paid by the Turiroa and Kaharau Angus studs. Hamish commented that the Turihaua registered herd expansion had allowed the first yearling bull sale without compromising the size and quality of the annual two-year bull sale. Buyers of yearling bulls gain a year of genetic progress. By using yearlings, farmers can bring their breeding programme forward and increase herd fertility over time. The bulls were selected on their calving ease and moderate birth weight EBVs.

Turihaua beef and lamb are available through Gisborne Deli, run by Darryn and Trish Clyne. Lambs are processed by Ovation, Gisborne and the Angus heifers at the Ruakura abattoir. Turihaua also consigns cattle into the AngusPure branded beef programme for sale domestically.