We were thrilled to find exactly what we were looking for a short way into our search. Ken McDowall, manager of the Rotokawa Stud in Wanaganui, New Zealand, had been aiming at our target for 25 years.
Ken McDowall with a mature bull.
This herd of Rotokawa Devons met all of our criteria:
1) Reproductive viability: Fully 100% of the Rotokawa first calf heifers have bred back successfully over a 25 year period. This is a remarkable statistic that speaks to their reproductive viability.
2) Early maturity: Young bulls raised at the Rotokawa Stud on a diet of just grass (no fitting on grain) weigh typically weigh 1000 to 1050 pounds at 400 days. We feel these cattle will reach finish weights of about 1200 pounds in 16 to 18 months here in the US. It currently takes most cattle, British cattle in the northeast for instance, 22 to 24 months to finish on grass and hay. The early-maturity of this subset of the Devon breed means producers could skip one whole winter of feeding grass-finished cattle.
3) Calving ease: Birth weights have not been recorded for the past twenty-five years because there have been no calving problems. There have been a couple assisted births over the years-assistance amounts to turning a calf -no pulling. This means there is no calving ease EPD -there is simply calving ease.
4) Superior prepotent bulls: Because of careful close breeding and ruthless selection, the Rotokawa bulls stamp their progeny with their great quality. Calves from Rotokawa 688 are now on the ground in Maine, Texas, North Carolina, Wyoming, New York and in many other states. The consistent quality in these calves from cross-bred mother cows and purebreds of other breeds is startling. The concentration of quality by breeding close and ruthless selection is apparent on the ground.
5) Repeatibility and consistency: Because careful attention has been paid to selection for the total functional animal and a careful breeding plan has been executed for twenty-five years, the cattle from this Rotokawa herd are remarkably similar. In June 2003, we at Bakewell Reproductive Center decided to import 12 live heifers from the Rotokawa herd, and we picked 12 out of about 27 heifers available. It was a difficult task since they are so consistently good. It is a lot like judging green tomatoes at the county fair: all the exhibits are good and one must search diligently to find flaws.
Calves sired by Devon bulls
Plane with heifers (in crate) arriving at Stewart Air Base in New York-ready to move to the US quarantine center.
6) Quality: As well as all these remarkable production pluses, the meat from this subset of Rotokawa Devons has high intramuscular fat and tenderness. The fine bone (see the photo of Rotokawa 636) and correct structure of these animals results in a high volume of the high dollar retails cut. Docility of the Rotokawa Devons correlate directly to the tenderness of the meat.
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