Article by Anastasia Burrows

Marshall Stokes has been showing cattle since he was knee high to an Angus cow – and that’s no exaggeration! Heading into the ring with an Angus calf bigger than himself is one of Marshall’s earliest showing or farming memories. 

Marshall has grown up on a 780ha sheep, beef, deer and dairy support property on the Banks of the Waimakariri River, near Oxford in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Alongside this is the family stud, Ranch Angus, established by Marshall’s Dad, Andrew in 2003. The Stokes family are a familiar sight not only at shows but supporting events across the board in the local and wider community, with Andrew also at the helm of the Christchurch A&P cattle section.

While seeing the family genetics shown in the ring is memorable, what seems to really strike home for Marshall is the pulling together of the Angus community to support each other. A defining moment for Marshall was after Ranch Angus won champion Angus at the 2014 Canterbury show with a 7 year old cow and calf, they turned up the next morning to prepare for the prestigious Meat and Wool Cup only to find their cow missing! The Angus showing family was already on the job, helping to clip and turn out the cow to best represent the breed – “everyone just jumped in and helped” he recalls. 

Marshall speaks to the value and importance of showing, and has stepped keenly up to the plate managing the family ‘stable’. Marshall thrives on showing, explaining how it’s a unique opportunity to show your cattle to a wider audience, gain feedback and have valuable discussion with other breeders and industry professionals around areas for development.

Training some willing helpers has allowed Marshall to move from in the ring –  where he’s won the hotly contested Herdsperson Award at the New Zealand A&P Show – to the sidelines where he really enjoys getting to watch the genetics he’s chosen in action. 

Optimistic about the Angus breed, Marshall discusses how New Zealand Angus is a hill country animal that needs to withstand the rigours of that environment and as such, he carries a philosophy of balance between numbers and what you see in front of you. With a practicality that belies his age, Marshall states “If it cant walk, eat or reproduce – it aint worth having”. There’s a hint of longing when talking about buying bulls, but with that practicality winning out again, a commercial focus and smaller stud means they support local breeders for good, sound stock. However Marshall is experimenting with some US semen this year as he starts looking to his long term genetic goals, trailing and investigating ways to pack more meat onto the frame while decreasing the pasture to hook time.

Friendly and personable, Marshall talks about farming from a place of passion but awareness that the bigger picture (weather, markets, politics) are the “uncontrollables” and you have to roll with and adapt to what’s going on. But he also stresses that “farming would be harder without the professionals that feed into it”.

As the 2024 TransTasman scholarship winner, Marshall is excited to reunite with friendships made at Rocky earlier this year as well as continuing to grow his Angus family community. Completing his Diploma in Agriculture in 2024, Marshall is returning for his second year of study at Lincoln University to pursue a diploma of Farm Management in 2025. However Marshall is looking forward to stepping away from the books for his trip for some real world learning, expressing the desire to get hands on and help so he can see their farming in action, as well as make himself useful while he’s there. From growing up in the Angus community, Marshall knows that everyone has a role to play and feels spending a couple of days on a farm working alongside people gives you a chance to form stronger friendships and learn more from each other. 

Generation AngusNZ Manager and Timperlea Angus owner Marie Fitzpatrick thinks Marshall is an excellent candidate for the TransTasman scholarship. “We’re excited to see not only what Marshal can achieve, but with his community spirit we are looking forward to seeing him continuing the Angus family community, both in NZ and internationally”.