Most of our customers are East Coast based so it’s vital our cows have the constitution to survive the tough times and and perform in this variable environment.
Our family has been fortunate over the past decade to have had the pick of the surplus yearling heifers at Atahua Angus. These heifers, along with their own replacements, have enabled Whenuapapa to grow to a herd of 160 registered Angus cows, their progeny and a small commercial beef herd.
At Whenuapapa Angus, cows are tested in a competitive grazing environment – we believe it is the only way to achieve the right balance of constitution and performance.
Our priority is to enhance the key profit driver that is our cow herd, full of moderately framed, functionally correct breeders that have the ability to perform under all conditions.
Our breeding objectives focus on what we consider are the key factors to profitable beef farming; attributes including fertility, calving ease and strong early growth whilst maintaining the soundness and natural thickness of the Atahua cattle.
‘We think it’s the responsibility of the stud breeding industry to try different genetics, with the aim of improving the breed, not merely changing it. Most years we’ve AI’d more than half of our cows and heifers. Most of this has been to natural heats rather than syncro programmes, testing the cows’ natural fertility to get in calf rather than using drugs. It’s not always a success but if it does work (proven by a large percentage of daughters kept) we will use sons of that sire,’ Andrew says.