The Cattleman 2009 Edition

 

The latest issue of The Cattleman magazine is Autumn 2009

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Three decades of achievement at Woodbank

By Joanna Grigg

Last year was a winner for Woodbank owners Johnny and Robyn Murray. Their weaner bull Woodbank BEU27 ranked first for weight for age in the New Zealand Angus Bull Evaluation Unit at Feilding, and went on to top the sale at NZ Beef Expo at $21,000.

A real highlight is when clients tell you how thrilled they are
with the results from using a Woodbank bull - says long time
Angus Breeder Johnny Murray

The Murrays have previously achieved success at the National. In 1992 Woodbank 91 was Unled Champion and sold for $36,000; the following year Woodbank 205 sold to Peter Matthews of Otoka stud, Hawke’s Bay for $33,000.
Both bulls were sired by Pack Power Scotch Cap. The Murrays invested in a one fifth share in him with other studs, three of whom sold sons from his first crop for over $35,000.

“He left cattle with plenty of power, great bone, thickness, constitution and great temperament,” says Johnny. “He was certainly the best bull investment we ever made.”

More recently Woodbank has moved to using New Zealand semen in order to balance the imported semen from USA and Australia. Te Mania Unlimited is currently a big influence. “He is of rare quality with good phenotype backed by an excellent genotype.”

His first crop of sons saw five sold into stud herds. “It is interesting to note that these sires, used as yearlings, last year bred our two top bulls sold into pedigree herds,” Johnny says.
While the bulls may get the glory,  Woodbank’s cows are integral to the success of the stud. All cows are run under commercial conditions on the 1590ha Marlborough property. Cows and heifers winter on the hill with no supplements fed. Summer is no easy ride either. Although they calve on the flats for weighing and tagging, calves are returned to the hill with their dams until weaning.

Woodbank runs from the sea along the north bank of the Clarence River to the base of the Inland Kaikoura ranges, with 12km of fenced river boundary.

The property has been in the family since 1900, while Johnny has farmed on his own account for 33 years. The stud was founded in 1936 by his father Ross with the purchase of twelve heifers from Ben Lomond stud in Hawke’s Bay.
Rainfall is around 630–760mm and the farm is typically summer dry. The hill country rises to 320m and has both north and south facing land. It’s mainly scrub-free and quick to grow in spring, but the lack of clay means it dries out quickly. The hill is sub-divided into 30ha blocks and P levels are around 15.

Woodbank’s 160ha of flats are light, stony and free draining. “You can still drive around the flats after three inches of rain,” Johnny notes.

The flats grow white clover and permanent grass pastures, spring crops of rape, winter crops of short rotation ryegrass and oat/turnip mixes. Johnny is a fan of short rotation ryegrass. Dryland lucerne provides baleage.
The bulls get the run of the flats. Irrigation covers 80ha and is a mix of the old and new. A rotorainer circa 1983 and K-line pods added in 1998 and 2000 give ideal coverage for about 60ha. Irrigation is costly but it has meant bulls can be brought up to weight and lambs finished.

“It lengthens our spring and allows us to present an acceptable team of bulls at sale time.”
Water is taken directly from the Clarence River. The advantage is a cheaper system but when the river floods or dirties, irrigation has to be shut down until it clears.
Woodbank carries 8023 stock units with 5213 in cattle. Johnny believes this ratio suits the environment, as cattle are kinder on the soils and pasture.

Flexibility, in times of drought, comes through running a conservative stocking rate (around five su/ha) and selling store lambs or ewes if need be. Around 350 medium squares of baleage are on hand and irrigation helps guarantee crop establishment.
Despite a drier than normal spring, Johnny is happier than this time last year. “Lamb prices are better and I have two sons working at home.”

Structure then muscle

Johnny’s breeding philosophy is to concentrate on structure first. This helps keep the fertility and maternal traits.

“Into that combination I look for maximum muscularity and carcass. The bulls need to have a thick, deep, early maturing carcass with plenty of width in behind and meat down the hock.”
Johnny also likes a good rein of neck, a strong spine and a masculine head. Consistency in a line of bulls is important. “I don’t like one-offs like curve benders.”

When he assesses a bull, he asks himself: “Will I like him as a three-year old?” If he is apprehensive, the bull doesn’t make it to sale.

While he sees EBVs as a tremendous step forward, he believes it is better to first visually assess bulls on conformation, then to look at the figures. “I think we have lost the art of visual appraisal and observation, and rely too much on EBVs to do it for us.”

“The way an animal walks and pulls up tells you a lot about his structure and soundness.”
Johnny is a firm believer in multi-trait selection for EBVs. On the Woodbank stud website, the breeding aims listed are to produce a herd close to average for milk, birth and growth traits, and above average for carcass and fertility traits.

He believes that stud breeders should be doing the job for commercial farmers in selecting for calving ease and efficiency. “Cattle are meant to be low input – it’s our job to ensure they stay that way.”
He warns that selecting for too much milk and growth rate works against fertility and longevity. There are 15-year plus cows in the Woodbank herd. They can lose weight over winter but still calve without assistance and get back in-calf within 12 weeks, he says.

Heifer calving percent averages 93% and MA cows 96%. All females calve as two-year-olds, with 450 pedigree cows and heifers to be mated this spring.

Calving starts mid August. The early calvers are AI’d for one cycle and teaser bulls are used. Yearling bulls are used as follow-up. The later calving cows are naturally mated to a combination of yearling bulls and mixed age sires.

The 148 one-year heifers are AI’d for one cycle and followed up with a yearling bull selected for calving ease. Yearling bulls are used for natural mating at a ratio of 1 to 30 and older bulls 1 to 50.
At weaning calves are branded, given a copper bullet, selenium and multi mineral drench. They winter on an oat, turnip and short rotation ryegrass mix. Bulls get a combination pour-on in autumn. Cows get a copper bullet and selenium pre-calving.

In spring 35% of bulls are sold for the yearling bull market. Calving ease is the main selection criteria and most go into the beef industry. The remaining bulls are carried through the summer and auctioned at the June sale.

Joint sale

Black and red side-by-side make for a good sale environment, Johnny has found. “Selling alongside another breed works perfectly.”

In 1998 Johnny and his cousin James Murray decided to sell bulls together from their neighbouring Woodbank and Matariki properties. From 1971 to 1997 Woodbank sold bulls in conjunction with four other studs at the combined Kaikoura bull sale. Prior to 1971 bulls were sold privately.

Johnny's policy is to focus in particular on carcass and fertility traits; he says
it's up to breeders to select for calving ease and efficiency.
"Cattle are meant to be low input - its our job to ensure they stay that way"

Woodbank sells 55 bulls by auction each year and Matariki up to 40, making it the biggest combined Angus and Hereford sale in New Zealand. The sale complex is built on Woodbank, right on the boundary.

“We have clients in common and a combined sale brings great camaraderie and competition,” says Johnny.
Woodbank clients are traditionally from the East Coast, Inland  Kaikoura Rd, North Canterbury and Awatere Valley.
“A real highlight comes when you have a complete clearance of your own sale and clients tell you how thrilled they are with results from using a Woodbank bull,” says Johnny.

While Angus are his preference, Johnny approves the ‘not putting all your eggs in one basket’ policy. Sheep make up 25% of stock units to add diversity.

The 2000 ewes stay on the hills, although twinning ewes are preferentially fed on the flats pre-lambing. Lambing starts early September with the Corriedale/Perendale flock weaning an average of 120% lambs weaned to ewes mated. All lambs are finished, and by mid-January this year, half had gone at 16.3kg average carcass weight.

“We aim to finish the remainder to similar weight by the end of autumn,” Johnny says.

The Murrays are still searching for their ideal ewe genetic mix. A move into Perendale-cross ewes five years ago will be followed up with a shift to Romney rams this autumn. Johnny still likes Corriedales and sees the fall-off in demand for mid-micron wool as one of his greatest disappointments in farming.

Aside from the on-farm highlights, Johnny has enjoyed his involvement in the wider industry. An NZAA councillor and committee member for nine years, Johnny spent two years as chairman of the Angus Association and has particularly enjoyed being involved in The Cattleman and in the evolution of the AngusPure brand from its inception.

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