The 15-year-old bought two Murray Grey calves and one in-calf cow from dispersing stud Yorkvale Murray Greys in Levin in January last year.
On the way to Horowhenua, she bought one calf from Waimak Murray Greys stud in Canterbury.
After returning home to her family’s farm in Chatton, she bought two yearling in-calf heifers from Torrisdale Murray Grey Stud in Winton.
The last of the cattle arrived in Easter last year and she launched her stud Coleraine.
Her plan was to keep the heifers to breed from and sell the bull calves and weaned yearlings to dairy farmers, she said.
She decided to launch a Murray Grey stud because she believed the breed was "rising in the rankings".
The appeal of the Murray Grey breed was that it had the colour-marking traits of Charolais and the growth rates of Angus.
Murray Grey had the potential to be "the next big thing" in the cattle industry, she said.
Another appeal of the breed was Murray Grey studs were rarer in the South than other breeds, such as Angus.
"You go on a road trip and there is Angus everywhere."
A motivation for launching a stud was being able to show pedigree cattle in her own name rather than showing other people’s pure cattle breeds.
"To have my own name in the showring."
She showed four of her own Murray Grey cattle at the Wānaka A&P Show in March this year.
Her calf Coleraine Nancy V1 placed fourth in the heifer calf class.
She had no desire to breed or show a pure white animal because they were hard to keep clean.
"Imagine the amount of whitening soap you’d go through."
In the showring, Murray Grey might lack the "pizzazz" of other breeds but they still got results.
A Murray Grey heifer won the Junior Meat and Wool Cup at the Christchurch A&P Show in November last year.
Charlotte was born and raised on sheep, beef and arable farms in Chatton.
Her parents, Alistair and Bernadette, did not have a preference for any particular beef breeds, she said.
"Dad likes buying cheap stock and fattening them and making lots out of them, any old breed really."
Her parents encouraged her to "think strategically" about how to spend and make money.
"Rather than buying a phone, to buy something as an investment that will make a return."
Her strategy includes rearing calves to sell.
At age 8, she bought steers from local dairy farmers Nathan and Debbie Erskine.
She considered the steers to be pets but they were eventually sent to the works.
"They were raised as pets but they had a purpose."
She showed the steers at Calf Club and West Otago A&P Shows.
To enter more classes, she began showing pedigree Galloway and Angus cattle of local breeder Rob Hall at A&P shows in Southland, Otago and Canterbury.
"After that I really got into it."
She also showed pedigree South Devon cattle for Otago stud owners Bridget Lowry and Brian Thomson at the New Zealand Agricultural Show in Canterbury in 2022.
Showing Murray Greys gave her a point of difference in the ring.
She had her Murray Grey cows and heifers artificially inseminated using semen from Barry McDonald’s stud Torrisdale Murray Grey in Winton.
The use of a bull was preferred but it did not stack up financially to buy a sire for her herd size.
A future plan was to buy some Murray Grey in-calf heifers, weaned calves or older cows from other studs to introduce new genetics to her herd while breeding her own cows.
She was breeding cattle to perform in the showring and for her business.
"A good show animal will produce well."
Empty cows were given a second chance.
If they were empty again, they would be sent to the meatworks, especially if they were older.
"Having a big cow which is not producing isn’t useful at all and the older they get, the less meat they carry and the less you get for them at the works."
Keeping cows on to die of old age was not fair on the animal, she said.
"They get health issues — they are not bred to live forever. A cow’s feet give out, like people’s do, and you can’t give a cow a walking frame."
