The Herefords of Ruatapu

• Published date: 13 December 2023
• Publication title: West Coast Farming Times, The

Grassroots visited him at Ruatapu

It's easy to talk bull with Mark Murphy. Hereford bulls that is. He is the owner of Longacre Hereford Stud, works on a dairy farm, and says 'he would not want to do anything else'.

Mark runs his stud on 265ha of family land at Ruatapu, just north of Ross. The family purchased the farm in 2019, moving from the Howard Valley near Lake Rotoiti. Mark describes the farmed area as 100ha of good pasture, 100ha of rough pasture and 65ha of rougher than rough pasture. Sitting just above sea level, with an annual rain fall of around 4.5m, and surrounded by forestry and mountains, the farm is in a true West Coast landscape.

It was an unusual gift that started Mark on his Hereford journey. When he was working for Rob Burrows at Beechwood Herefords in Canterbury, he was given a cow for his birthday.

Another employer, Lake Station Herefords, gave him a second cow for his 21st birthday. Mark slowly grew his herd purchasing a 'couple of cows at a time'. Then, three years ago, the opportunity came up to purchase a line of cows from a stud dispersal sale in the North Island. Longacre Herefords now has 65 registered cows and Mark thinks he will cap it at around 70. The end goal is to be one of the country's top Hereford studs, and Mark wants to focus on 'quality rather than quantity'.

Why Herefords? Mark says they are 'prettier than an angus' and their docility and temperament makes them a great breed.

As a rule, he must be able to walk up and touch each bull in the yards. Any bull that shows aggressive behavior is culled regardless of its breeding values. Mark says, "nobody wants a grumpy bull, dairy farmers have nice quiet cows, and they don't want to deal with aggressive bulls, farmers can't afford to be injured". As a small stud, he says that every bull needs to be 'a good bull' and he would not sell anything that he would not use over his own cattle. Mark's partner Sara and her two children also assist with the stud, making temperament vital. This year when Mark was at the dairy farm, Sara weighed and tagged the calves at birth.

Mark feels Longacre has started from a strong genetic base. In the last two years he has used semen imported from Australia for 'rapid genetic gains' as well as good quality semen from Canterbury's Beechwood stud. He says the AI process and imported semen has been "expensive but worthwhile"

Along with good genetics, Mark feels that the challenges of the west coast environment aids in breeding good cattle...