17 Feb 2017

In the bull pen

From Country Life, 9:31 pm on 17 February 2017

Cosmo Kentish-Barnes visits Tim and Will Wilding on their farm at Conway Flat, south of Kaikōura.

The Te Mania Angus Stud has been in the Wilding family for four generations. Their goal is to breed with cutting-edge genetics while farming sustainability.

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Photo: RNZ/Cosmo Kentish-Barnes

Tim Wildings’ grandfather Edwyn started breeding cattle at the 750-hectare coastal farm in 1927 and now it is home to one of the largest fully performance recorded registered Angus herds in New Zealand.

Will is learning the ropes from his father and has taken on the role of stock manager. It was always his goal to come back to the farm after travelling.

“Dad still organises a lot stuff like spraying and fertilising, but we sit down and work out what we need to put in to get through the winter and how much silage to make in summer, and get to it.” he says.

Tim’s goal is to produce leading edge genetics while farming in a sustainable manner and his main income stream comes from the annual on farm bull sale.

“In June we put up 125 bulls for auction. On a good day they go through the ring at about one a minute and average anywhere between $6500 and $7500, so that’s our main day for income.”

In October they also run a yearling bull sale for especially selected easy calving bulls for heifer mating.