The Hereford is a breed of beef cattle that originated in the 1700’s from Herefordshire, an historical agricultural region in the West Midlands of England and they were the first English cattle to be recognised as a true breed.
Pioneer breeder, Benjamin Tomkins, is credited with founding the first Herefords beginning in 1742. He wanted an animal that was economic to feed, had a natural aptitude to grow and gain weight from being grass fed and be a hardy animal that matured early.
In the 1700’s and 1800’s, the Herefords in England were much larger than they are today, many mature cattle weighing 1360 kgs or more but over time their size reduced to get more smoothness, quality, and efficiency.
The first Herefords were brought into New Zealand from England on a sailing ship in 1868 by R & E McLean of Auckland and the first Hereford Stud was founded by James Holms in Southland in 1877. From that time through to the early 1900’s, the Hereford cattle imported from England and Australia formed the base of many New Zealand studs today. Before this, the breed reached Ireland, America, Australia, and Argentina.
Occasionally, a calf would be born which did not develop horns and this would be known as a mutation. In 1898, a breeder in Iowa seized on the idea of developing Hereford cattle still with their outstanding beef-producing characteristics, but without horns. Three years later, the Polled Hereford breed (meaning without horns) came into being, becoming a very popular breed in America and the world cattle industry.
The first Polled Hereford bull was imported into New Zealand from the USA in 1929, by F E Humphreys of Gisborne, who then brought in a cow the following year. During the next few years, other breeders imported Polled Hereford bulls, and these were successfully mated with horned cows. From here, the new breed of Hereford gained popularity.
History was made in 1956 when some polled cattle were shipped back to their home country of England and since then there has been many exported from New Zealand because of their high quality.
In 1960 New Zealand has its first Hereford National Show and Sale and from here, the breed gained huge popularity.
Known for its excellent meat quality and being able to thrive in a variety of weather conditions, the Hereford is a docile animal that has good fertility and ease of calving. It is able to get good weight gain from small amounts of grass and can live a long life.
I caught up with retired Pharmacist, Grant Irvine, who enjoys farming Hereford cattle on his 141 acre property on the outskirts of Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Grant always wanted a farm and his desire to farm Hereford cattle came from the many years he spent as a youth on his Grandfather’s 2,200 acre farm at Lake Hayes in Central Otago.
When the land across the road came up for sale, Grant seized the opportunity to buy it to add to his farm, completely redesigning the layout with a central race and even sized paddocks.
He started buying Friesian Hereford calves and decided to mate them to a Hereford bull because he wanted ease of calving.
“The first year I experienced a lot of calving difficulties which I put down to the strain of the Friesian Hereford cross,” said Grant. “I decided to purchase a less bulky bull which also proved to be a lower birth weight bull and calving started to work well.”
Grant then went on to buy nine Hereford in-calf heifers of which he still has three of them today. He used the first Hereford bull born across the heifers, which worked a treat, and this became the beginning of his Hereford stock. Three years later when he compared the pure Herefords to the Cross-bred cattle, he made the decision to stick with the Herefords.
Grant is now at the stage where he has 100 Hereford cows, all red and white. Another change he has made is to calve twice yearly, which takes the pressure off by not calving in the mud when the weather is wet.
The stand-out about the Herefords for Grant is their lower birth weight and calving ease.
“They are a nice cattle beast,” said Grant. “They are quiet, and I can quite confidently walk through them, and they just stand there and watch me.”
“I enjoy my time on the farm and retirement drives what I want to do and how much I want to get involved,” said Grant. “I like Herefords and the only reason I have them is because of my Grandfather.”
