After my stay at Tahora Farms, I met back up with Jackie, Morgan and Brandon for the weekend. On Monday morning, Brandon and I went to stay at The Glen Charolais stud near Hurunui, about an hour north of Christchurch. We stayed with Bill and Geraldine Hassel, and once again were treated to great kiwi hospitality!
The Glen raises Full French Charolais and sheep on the foothills of the Southern Alps. The farm runs about 40 cow-calf pairs and 400 ewes, who average lambing around 150%. The farm was absolutely gorgeous, and this year because they have been getting so much rain, the paddocks were still lush and green, whereas usually this time of the season as autumn sets in, the grass begins to dry out.
Sparrow and I were lucky enough to experience sheep shearing, tagging ewes, watching working dogs move cattle an sheep, help with cattle performance recording and ate some delicious New Zealand Charolais beef!
We had an absolutely fabulous week, and saw some great cattle. I was quite impressed how efficient New Zealand cattle are, seeing how they are only grown on grass and hay, and grain does not play a huge role in beef production in the country. Some of the country is rough land to farm, and the cattle need to be very hardy to withstand cold and rain in the winter, and need to be able to convert grass and roughage into beef, instead of a higher energy source like grain.
We left The Glen Charolais on Wednesday after a great couple days, on our way back to Christchurch for our last days in New Zealand.
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