The 2025 Angus NZ No Bull Weekender, held in Akaroa, proved again to be a resounding success – combining professional development, personal wellness, and a chance to connect for Angus breeders.
From the very start, the event encouraged openness and networking with an informal meet-and-greet at the Akaroa Bowling Club where GM Jane Allan showed her class with the bowls and the rest of us went a bit astray!
The programme for Friday began with a gentle yoga session on the beach, thanks to Nadine Hickman, setting a tone of wellness and mindfulness. We then dove into a series of engaging workshops and discussions starting with a presentation from NZAB on understanding the banking industry and how farm equity and debt can be better managed. This led perfectly into a presentation on farm succession from Emily Flaszynski from Mortlock McCormack Law which was followed up by Kate Steadman, a clinical psychologist from Manawatu, providing some practical and actionable advice on mental wellness.

Later in the afternoon we all gathered at the Akaroa Cooking School where a team from Silver Fern Farms provided a beef carcass breakdown workshop. This session bridged the gap between breeding theory and meat-industry application – reinforcing the connection breeders have to the end-product.
The day finished with the cuts being used in a range of amazing dishes cooked from the team from the Akaroa Cooking School.
On Saturday, participants again began their morning with yoga before travelling over to Sudeley Angus, where they received a practical walkthrough on the use of technology with Mark Maitland from Gallagher. and an informative morning with Andrew Laing from Sudeley on their breeding objectives, viewing an even line of heifers and cows with calves at foot. Sage Hardy from PBBNZ then provided a more indepth look at the new Helical recording software before we headed off into the wide blue yonder to search for some dolphins (and sadly some keys!), before returning to shore to finish the weekend off with a dinner together.
Overall, the No Bull Weekender succeeded on multiple levels – education, wellness, networking, and inspiration. It also highlighted the amazing and welcoming camaraderie we have amongst our Angus NZ members and how an event like this creates the ideal space where breeders could grow — not just in their herds – but personally and professionally.
A special thanks to Boehringer Ingelheim for being the key sponsor of this event and to help make it possible alongside Silver Fern Farms and the Christchurch Airport Tarras Community Fund. We also thank Sarah Williams and Jane Allan who helped develop the initial idea of the No Bull Weekender and to all the attendees, past and present, that have taken the time out of their busy schedules to make it the success that it is.