Big Hereford shipment

Press, 24 June 1983, Page 1

Big Hereford shipment

Farm editor More than 1400 Hereford heifers from the South Island will soon join at Lyttelton what is believed to be the biggest shipment of live cattle to leave New Zealand, bound for South Korea. The contract has been negotiated by an Australian livestock exporter, Mr Gordon Mac Nicol, and calls for a full shipload of 2300 heifers. About 800 will load at Tauranga and the rest at Lyttelton. The live shipment deal is worth more than $600,000 to New Zealand Hereford breeders.

The heifers will embark for their new breeding lives in Korea during the first

few days of July in the specialist live cattle ship Baupre Island, owned by the Hong Kong Baupre Shipping Company, Ltd. Dalgety New Zealand, Ltd, is co-ordinating the buying and collection of the cattle for Mac Nicol Live Exports (Aust.), Ltd, but several New Zealand stock firms have been involved. The New Zealand stud stock manager of Dalgety, Mr Cam Watson, of Palmerston North, said yesterday that all the cattle had been bought from commercial Hereford cattle farmers during the last two •weeks,

Mushrooms, which can make a tasty hot dish in winter, are plentiful on the Christchurch produce market this week. —Page 2 Any E.E.C. cut to N.Z. butter quotas would result in mutual competition elsewhere, says the Minister of Overseas Trade, Mr Cooper. —Page 3 Kuwait has stepped into the P.L.O. revolt in a bid to mediate between the two sides.

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Mr Mac Nicol is a regular shipper of cattle to Korea, which is seeking 70,000 cattle of all breeds this year to continue building up its national beef industry.

He is believed to have won a tender for 2300 heifers with the intention of providing Queensland cattle out recent extensive flooding, there has hindered the purchase and collection of the cattle and he came to New Zealand to fill the order. Mr Watson said that Dalgety had also tendered direct for the same order but New Zealand bids were unsuccessful because of prohibitive shipping costs. With the specialist livestock carrier Baupre Island, Mr Mac Nicol is able to keep shipping costs down.

the South Island cattle are now being held on a farm near Christchurch Airport owned by Wrightson NMA, Ltd, which bought 800 cattle for the shipment. The

local Canterbury stock firm of Pyne, Gould, Guiness Ltd, also contributed more than 150 heifers. All stock firms were given a specification for the cattle, which had to be Herefords about 20 months of age and between 230 kg and 280 kg liveweight.

Mr Watson said the average purchase price was slightly above ruling market prices for this type of cattle.

The Christchurch regional veterinary officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Peter Davenport, said yesterday that his animal health staff were working against the clock to test the cattle.

They have all to be tested for tuberculosis, brucellosis, and Johne’s disease. The Koreans had also asked that all cattle be from farms certified free from bovine virus diarrhoea and infections bovine rhinotracheitis, and that the cattle be treated for leptospirosis. The voyage to Korea is expected to take about 18 days. '