Last month, via photographs and video clips, Sonny Bill was judged the best Hereford bull in the Asia/Africa region, and Mr O'Neill won a further $3000 to get himself to "Cowtown", otherwise known as Fort Worth in Texas, for the world final.
On Sunday in the United States, Sonny Bill will be up against three world-class Herefords from other parts of the globe in the Fort Worth Stock Show. Judging will again be by photo and video, with gold, silver and bronze medals up for grabs.
"Even if I don't get any of them, I've still got the fourth in the world," Mr O'Neill said.
With a drought on he's too busy to go, but will be keen to hear the result. Instead he's sending Maria Robbie, one of Sonny Bill's new owners, and their mutual friend Linda Shailer. They're both knowledgeable about cattle and can take part in the seminars that follow the competition.
Sonny Bill has a good pedigree and plenty of muscle in the right places for good beef production. He's also "bomb proof" - used to children and being in public.
The Okahu Hereford Stud where he was bred is 222ha on State Highway 4 just north of Raetihi. It's a mix of hill and rolling flats and at 600m above sea level, it is high and cold, so calving happens late.
Mr O'Neill runs 140 pedigree stud cows and sells about 30 bulls a year. Semen is brought in from overseas, and bulls are also used. The cows calve in their second or third year and animals not suitable for breeding are sold to meatworks. Sheep from his other farms are also grazed on the property. He grows swedes and kale to feed stock and there are also a couple of paddocks of oats that are turned into green balage and are "delicious and nutritious" for cattle.
Mr O'Neill manages the stud by himself, with casual and contract help. "I think my greatest asset is that my grandfather taught my father everything he knew, and then my father taught me everything he knew. I've got three generations of knowledge."
His grandfather, Alexander O'Neill, farmed cattle on Maori lease land at Oreore in the Parapara. He decided Herefords were the best breed for bushy hill country, and concentrated on them. His son Pat, Kelly's father, bought the stud land at Raetihi in the 1950s. It was called Okahu after a bend in the Mangawhero river and an extinct native eagle.
It is now owned by a family trust.
There are hundreds of breeds of cattle, but Herefords and Angus are the traditional ones for New Zealand hill country. Both have the intramuscular fat that makes meat tasty.
Mr O'Neill believes Herefords are the quietest cattle of all. But he said any bull needed to be handled with caution. Bulls in a paddock established relationships and would turn on a new bull introduced there and try to kill him. "When they're with the cows their main purpose is to seem as powerful as they can."
The Okahu Herefords don't have horns. But he said horns were preferred for Herefords in countries like Canada. They allowed cows to defend their calves from predators. And he said cattle breeders were fiercely loyal to their breeds.
Hereford breeders all went to each other's sales and supported each other. His sister, Trish, married an Australian Hereford breeder.
