Main beef cattle breeds
New Zealand was alerted to the scourge of Foot & Mouth
disease, so would only import cattle from countries
where the disease was not endemic such as Britain. Beef
cattle numbers were slow to develop till the invention of
refrigeration in 1880, after which time frozen and chilled
beef became important exports. However it was not until
the 1950s with the expansion of the American hamburger
meat trade that beef production in New Zealand really
expanded, and most of this meat came as a by-product
from the dairy industry. Since the 1950s, Herefords have been second to the
Angus in popularity in New Zealand.
In the early days of New Zealand’s beef industry, Aberdeen
Angus and Hereford cattle from Britain were numerically the
most popular until the 1970s, when over 20 “exotic’ breeds
arrived, mainly from Europe, primarily to cross on to the
Friesian and Jersey dairy breeds. • Colour – rich red with white head and strip along the
neck (not to be right along back). Underside, dewlap,
legs and tail switch are white.
However, because of their scarcity, they were established
as studs and exported from New Zealand to other
countries because of our clean animal health status. You
could say that today, most of these exotic breeds have
been and gone, with only a few pure-bred stud herds left,
and the New Zealand beef industry is based mainly on the
cross-bred Hereford x Friesian cow or the straight Holstein
Friesian for bull beef.
Angus
The Aberdeen Angus, now usually known as the Angus,
originated in north-eastern Scotland. It is black and has no
horns.
The Hereford is hardy and can be run in a wide range of
environmental conditions. The cows are highly fertile and
calve easily. Herefords convert feed to meat efficiently and
produce a high-quality carcass. The traditional Hereford is
horned, but a polled type was bred in the US and imported
into New Zealand in 1929.
Features:
• Horned & polled.
• Medium size, good early growth, early maturity.
• Good maternal breed, easy calving.
• Adapted to wide range of conditions, good forager.
• Used as straight bred dam or as crossing sire, especially
on Holstein Friesian dairy cows.
Wagyu Beef
In several areas of Japan, wagyu beef is shipped carrying
area names.
Some examples are Matsusaka beef, Kobe beef, Yonezawa
beef, Mishima beef, Omi beef and Sanda beef.
The Scottish Angus was a small, stocky beast, noted for its
hardiness and its ability to thrive on poor pasture. From the
1960s, New Zealand breeders bred it to produce a taller,
longer and larger animal. In recent years, wagyu beef has increased in fat percentage
due to decrease in grazing and an increase in using feed,
resulting in larger, fattier cattle. Of the above Kobe beef
maybe the best known area ‘type’ to us.
Modern Angus In New Zealand Wagyu (Bull) is commonly crossed with
Angus or Friesian/Jersey cross cows.
The modern Angus is moderately large and well-muscled.
It is hardy and can thrive in hard hill country. The cows
are highly fertile and good mothers. Angus meat is well-
marbled, with excellent flavour.
Angus cattle have been the most popular breed in
New Zealand for many years.
Features:
Wagyu meat is famous for its highly intra-muscle marbled
meat which gives it a juicy, tender, ‘nutty’ and sweet flavour.
Exotics
Some of the more common would include Simental,
Charolais, Limousin and Shorthorn.
• Colour – all black. Some small white areas around the
navel is allowed. These are used throughout our beef ‘meat’ herds for their
positive attributes.
• Polled (no horns). Simental: originates from Switzerland, rapid growth,
high yielding and larger frame.
• Medium size, good early growth rate, early maturing.
• Good maternal ability, low calving trouble.
• Adapted to a wide range of conditions, good forager on
hill country, hardy.
• Used as a straight bred beef dam and as a crossing sire
on dairy breeds.
• Hereford
Hereford cattle, bred in Herefordshire, have distinctive red-
and-white body markings.
bidfood.co.nz 0800 bidfood
Charolais: originates from France, rapid growth and
higher yielding.
Limousin: originates from France. High yielding and
lean meat.
Shorthorn: originates from England. Though not strictly
an exotic they are a docile and easy to handle animal.
Are good mothers, so the calves reach good weights by
weaning time. Well finished animals are lean and have good
marbling. A medium sized animal.
MEAT & POULTRY SOLUTIONS
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