Hoof and shoulders above the rest

Torey is a great stockman, who understands the animals very well.Diane, Torey Harnett's mother At just 14-years-old, Torey Harnett has a clear understanding of what it means to be a beef cattle farmer.
For three years now he's entered Angus steers he's reared in the national Future Beef New Zealand Hoof & Hook competition, receiving awards for a carcass and for his handling of the animals.
He's in no doubt that the bull calves produced by his family's Rangeview Angus Stud are ultimately destined for the dinner plate (or a McDonald's Burger) and he has no problem with that concept - provided the animals are well cared for.
"Torey is a great stockman, who understands the animals very well," said his mother Diane.
Dad Dwayne reckons Torey has a better eye for animals than he does. "Torey has bid at auctions on stud bulls for us and he often picks the ones which reach the highest prices, except he has to drop out after he reaches our limit."
Diane and Dwayne encouraged Torey and his 10-year-old sister Sonya, to take up calf rearing while at Kaimai Primary School for calf club days. Torey went on to show the animals he reared at A&P shows and Angus and beef shows around the country, winning boxes full of ribbons.
Last week he was on hand at the Mclarens Falls property of Sharon and Merv McEnter when two busloads of Angus breeders from throughout New Zealand visited the cows, calves and one stud bull he and his parents graze there.
The breeders were on the annual Angus Tour, which this year visited stud farms in Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
In particular, Torey was keen to show them the heifer he hopes will perform well when he enters her in this year's Queen of Hearts Heifer Show and Sale in Fielding in May.
Dwayne said it was unusual for the tour to visit a stud as small as Rangeview which has 14 mixed age cows, nine bull calves, four heifer calves and bulls and steers.
"Most studs are much bigger. We are really just lifestylers and lease grazing from the McEnters," he said.
Torey spent time talking to breeders about the Rangeview Angus herd, adding to his already quite extensive knowledge of the breed.
The Tauranga Boys College pupil, who is also an accomplished athlete (he has attended the Australia Institute of Sport), says he doesn't mind the hard work involved in farming and rearing animals and hopes to make farming his eventual career.