Cup expected to 'pay for the beer'

Palmerston farmer Fraser Wilson with some of his South Devon bulls. Photo by Sally Rae.
Palmerston farmer Fraser Wilson with some of his South Devon bulls. Photo by Sally Rae.
When Palmerston farmer and South Devon breeder Fraser Wilson was looking for a name for a bull, he could not go past World Cup.

Not only was Mr Fraser a spectator at the inaugural Rugby World Cup - won by the All Blacks, in 1987 - but he and some friends have got tickets to this year's World Cup final.

In the meantime, Mount Royal World Cup will go under the hammer at the Beef and Lamb New Zealand Beef Expo in Feilding tomorrow.

While Mr Wilson was not sure if the bull would pay for the World Cup tickets, "he might pay for the beer", he quipped.

He has not seen the bull since it was sent north last July to take part in a South Devon bull trial.

The young sire was by Clover Downs Horatio - "a lovely big sire" - and it had good estimated breeding values. (EBVs)

Visual assessment was also important to Mr Wilson.

"To me, they've got to have a good strong jaw and good feet. If they can't walk and eat, where are you?" he said.

Mr Wilson and his wife, Barbara, farm at Mount Royal, just south of Palmerston, a property on which he is the fourth-generation.

Mount Royal Station was bought by his great-grandfather, Isaac Stevenson, an engineer, and later split up in 1924.

Mr Wilson established the South Devon stud in 1987, having seen some of the breed at a property at Middlemarch and been impressed.

He started with about 17 cows and numbers have grown to about 40. He sells up to 10 bulls a year and this will be the third time he has sold a bull at the national sale.

Originating from the southwest of England, South Devons were introduced to New Zealand in 1969.

Mr Wilson liked the temperament of the breed, along with the good growth rates. It was also good beef and the breed had twice won the Steak of Origin award.

He is on the board of management for the South Devon Cattle Society of New Zealand - the president is Brian Thomson, of Allanton - and he has also judged at Christchurch A and P show, which he enjoyed.

He admired people who showed their cattle, saying they had to be very dedicated, and it was a "shop window" for the breeds.

There are two overseas judges at the beef expo - Liz Manchee from Yamburgan Shorthorns and Wilgaroon Santa Gertrudis stud in Wallah, New South Wales, and Robert Bulle from the Ardrossan Angus stud at Holbrook, in New South Wales.

An initiative at the expo this year is the Queen of Hearts show and sale, an event for young heifer calves of all breeds.

 

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