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Shorthorns prove their worth Michelle Nelson
RURAL EDITOR
In a district in which black and white cows dominate the rural landscape, a red herd is an unusual sight. Set against the backdrop of Mt Hutt, Mark and Jenny McDonald’s milking shorthorns graze peacefully. While other breeds of dairy cattle are often leery of strangers, the McDonald’s cows are inquisitive about the photographer in their midst – and are no respecters of personal space. Mark appears to know most of the cows cozying up for a scratch. “That one over there,” he said, pointing, “has a daughter who is almost too friendly – sometimes she charges right up behind you, it’s not so good!” Red Cow Farm is situated on the Ashburton River Road, near Methven. On the tail end of a very dry season, 580 cows are still on twice-daily milking, through a 50-bail rotary shed. The herd is predominantly red, with a few blue-roan Holstein crossbreds and a handful of black and whites, to provide a comparison, Mark said. His love affair with the breed began when he was 11 or 12 years old, and was given a red shorthorn calf. “I’ve liked the shorthorns since I was a boy – there are only about five or six thousand in the country, but they were one of the first breeds used for milking in New Zealand.” These days even his staff prefer the temperament of the
Mark McDonald’s milking shorthorns are always ready for a scratch behind the ears.
red cows over other breeds. The original shorthorns were a dual purpose meat and milk breed, but that’s no longer the case. Since the 1960s, genetics have been refined to create a straight milking cow. Mark says the shorthorns are low-input cows. “They look after themselves, they are a lot easier to manage
than black and whites. “Black feet are a characteristic of the breed, they tend to be harder, so lameness is not a big issue.” The shorthorn breed’s brown teats are less prone to cracking, and therefore to infections likely to cause mastitis. “The red cows also have better fertility, with only 7.5
per cent of the herd empty at 10 weeks, compared to 33 per cent of friesain/kiwi-cross cows.” Mark and Jenny’s philosophy is to get back to basics in their farming systems, with animal welfare high on the agenda. The herd is predominantly grass-fed, on clover-based pasture.
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“I think a lot of farmers have lost the art of growing clover – although there is more awareness now than there was 10 years ago. It’s good for production, it’s good for cows, and it’s good for fixing nitrogen.” Nitrogen is strategically applied at low rates. continued over page
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