World Hereford Conference

By Judy Finseth MANAGING EDITOR

Over 450 Hereford breeders from around the world met in Queenstown, New Zealand March 9th to 13th for the Boehringer Ingelheim World Hereford Conference. This was the 18th global conference. The New Zealand Hereford Association General Manager, Posy Moody, says the Hereford family has strong connections that are strengthened at the global event. Hereford breeders from North and South America, Europe, Scandinavia, UK and Ireland, Australia and South Africa joined their New Zealand counterparts to participate in the conference. Country reports also included one from Kazakhstan.

With many highlights to choose from, Moody singled out the visit to two high country stations:

Locharburn and Earnscleugh, as well as the PGG Wrightson gala dinner a Mount Nicholas, as high points of the week-long events.

CHA President Albert Rimke and his wife Michelle were among the Canadian delegates that included Randy and Sandra Radau, Don and Leslie Richardson, Neal Church, Patrick and Karen Huestis, Trevor and Janice Tapp and CHA Executive Director Stephen Scott. The Rimke’s believe that attending the WHC is important for maintaining our international profile and for the networking opportunities, “you can communicate across the world easier today with technology, but in-person contact with breeders can never been replaced.”

Patrick Huestis thought it was a phenomenally good event and wife Karen, who might not enjoy the cattle side of the business quite as much, also had a great time. “The biggest takeaway,” said Patrick “was the welcome and excellent hospitality of the New Zealand hosts.” Patrick also enjoyed the opportunity of getting to know his fellow Canadian delegates better, many of whom he had met at Bonanza when they were juniors!

Janice Tapp made comprehensive notes on the many things she saw and learned on the trip and has shared her observations with fellow British Columbia breeders with articles in the BC Hereford Association newsletter and the Beef in BC magazine. She says, “Grass is the gold of this country. It grows almost 12 moths of the year in most areas.” Almost 50 percent of the land in New Zealand is used for agriculture or horticulture with over 25 million sheep, 6.5 million dairy cows and 3.6 million beef cows. She also pointed out that yearling Hereford bulls are used extensively by dairy operations. “Herefords are preferred because of their hardiness and their distinguishable white face when crossed on the black Holsteins,” she says.

While the pre and post tours enabled visitors to gain an appreciation for the topography, history and agriculture industry in New Zealand, the conference itself featured a range of speakers and topics including Pablo Gregorini and the Lincoln Research Team exploring Hereford behaviour on high country, as well as the opportunities surrounding genomic testing from Neogen and Allflex.

Dr. Jason Rowntree from Michigan State University was one of the keynote speakers. His topic was about regenerative agriculture and beef cattle, carbon and the environment. “He armed the audience with easy-to-follow science and statistics to help them combat negative feelings towards agriculture, farming cattle and eating beef,” says Posy Moody. A link to the presentations can be found on the New

Zealand Hereford Association website: www.herefords.co.nz/ presentations.html.

An extra dimension to the WHC this year was the Young Breeders Competition aimed at providing an opportunity for the next generation of Hereford leaders to network. Nine teams representing seven countries participated in a variety of activities over seven days. Competitions included a module competition, quiz night, judging, presentation (speeches), clipping and handling. Home team New Zealand placed first followed by the Australia Red team. “Everyone loved meeting the next generation of breeders and their enthusiasm was contagious,” said Posy. Albert and Michelle agreed and regretted that Canada was unable to field a team this year and in their opinion, is something we need to consider at future events.

The pre-conference tour visited seven studs on the North Island as buses travelled from Auckland to Wellington. 120 breeders took part in the North Island pre tour and 165 travelled on the post tour that visited the South Island. The post-conference tour visited nine studs and two large commercial operations.

Viewing cattle is always a big part of a tour and Michelle reported that it is always interesting to hear what the tour hosts have to say about their breeding goals and selection decisions. “There are always the challenges of weather, feed, plus environmental challenges for all of them,” she said. “It was interesting how they incorporate herds of sheep into their operations to get optimum grazing.”

She also gave a nod to the bus drivers for making some tight corners in rough terrain to visit farms that lacked access for large equipment!

Canadian genetics were seen on many of the New Zealand stations and Albert reported that many of the delegates from other countries commented on the Canadian genetics they had been using in their herds.

The USA will host the next World Hereford Conference in 2024. Albert and Michelle Rimke encourage Canadian breeders to take part and particularly emphasize the tours. “They are a very important part of the trip, that is where you get to talk to people and hear about their breeding programs and their countries.”