Northland’s Jack Courtman, 11, keen on breeding Herefords

Jack Courtman loves Herefords and wants to have his own herd one day. Photo / Anita Courtman

Jack Courtman lives an idyllic life in Waikiekie, Waiotira, Northland.

Being only 11, he lives with his mum and dad, Anita and Joel, on a 440ha dairy and beef property and his dream is to one day own his own block of land and to have a herd of 300 Hereford breeding cows.

From the age of 4, every season Jack would ask his dad the same question, why wasn’t he putting Hereford straws in the dairy herd at the tail end?

All he wanted was to see some gorgeous Hereford calves in the calf sheds.

He finally wore his dad down who agreed to artificially inseminate (AI) some of his dairy cows with Hereford semen.

It was a long wait till calving time, and while not all calves born to the dairy cows were up to Jack’s expectation; it was well worth it when some of those cute Hereford calves with their clean white faces, white strip down their back and that deep red colour of their pelt were produced.

“I love to collect the calves from the paddock during calving to see how many Hereford calves have been born at the end of the day,” he said.

This has been a learning curve for Jack, as the resulting calves have not always been as he’d hoped.

This is where Dad stepped in and explained the importance of getting the genetics right on the heifer’s side.

Jack’s goal is to obtain good quality Hereford cattle and build up his numbers, by keeping all the heifers, and growing them on to 2-year-olds, hopefully getting in-calf.

He aims to sell the bull calves and with the money buy more in-calf Herefords.

Cam Heggie is a PGG Wrightson livestock, genetics, rep and auctioneer, with many years of livestock knowledge under his belt.

He took Jack out to Matapouri to meet Ian and Lorraine Clements, breeders who have had years of experience. Or and as Jack puts it, “they have nice-looking cattle”.

Breeding Herefords has been a big learning curve for Jack. Photo / Anita Courtman

They had selected one hundred-odd heifers which they penned especially for Jack’s arrival and with the help of Heggie, Jack was able to hand-pick six in-calf heifers which he purchased.

Jack Courtman is a big fan of Hereford cattle. Photo / Anita Courtman

This year he used seeders and artificially inseminated them with a stud bull from Shrimpton Hills in the South Island.

This bull was a good birth weight, with solid markings and the dark red colour that Jack was after.

Jack’s goal is to obtain good quality Hereford cattle and build up his numbers. Photo / Anita Courtman

Now, Jack has to wait and see if the calves have all the traits that he is after.

His parents are a dab hand in the yards, helping with tagging and vaccinations, but Jack does all the documentation.

Jack Courtman, 11, with a couple of his Herefords. Photo / Anita Courtman

So it is a real team effort, especially while Jack learns the ropes.

When not working on his stud, Jack is like most other 11-year-olds, playing rugby for Mid-Western at Maungakaramea, riding his dirt bike around the farm, possum trapping, building things with wood, and swimming in the lake with his brother and sisters.

Jack has a plan for when he finishes school as well; relief milking for his dad and other farmers in the area, and driving tractors for some of the local contractors.

There is no stopping this budding entrepreneur, he knows what he wants and where he is headed.