Page 12 - NZ Herefords Magazine 2018
P. 12

The Murray family (Left to Right): Sam, James, Becky, Lucy and Jack.
                                                                MATARIKI HEREFORD STUD,
                                                                CLARENCE VALLEY
       JAMES AND BECKY MURRAY and their two sons, Sam, 27, and
       Jack, 23, run the family property Matariki, and operate Matariki   OWNED AND OPERATED BY JAMES, BECKY,
       Hereford Stud in the Clarence Valley. The farm is normally a   SAM, LUCY AND JACK MURRAY
       half-hour trip north of Kaikoura, but road closures following the
       earthquake mean it now takes about six hours from Kaikoura.  1400 HECTARES
          The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck near midnight on 14   •  60ha under centre pivot irrigation – a key part of the operation
       November 2016 and caused widespread devastation, including   •  200ha flat
       damage to many farms in the region, and closed State Highway   •  200ha rolling hill country
       1 for 13 months.                                         •  1040ha steeper, scrubby hill country
          Matariki is a family affair for the Murrays, with James, Sam   •  600ha lease block 20 minutes away, just south of Ward
       and Jack working closely together to run the sheep and beef   – also has K-Line irrigation.
       operation, breeding and finishing everything.
          James’s grandfather purchased Woodbank in 1900, riding   RAINFALL: 400 to 900ml annually.
       his horse up from Leeston. After World War II Matariki was split
       off from Woodbank, which is now run by James’s cousin Johnny   STOCK:
       Murray, who operates the Woodbank Angus Stud.            SHEEP:
          The two studs have held their annual on-farm sale together   •  3200 Corriedale/half-bred ewes (between the home and
       since 1997, previously selling at a combined sale with five other   lease block) – 1000 ewes to a terminal ram.
       studs, held in Kaikoura. The Murrays wanted to increase their   •  1000 hoggets.
       numbers and holding the sale on-farm eliminated the need to   CATTLE:
       truck cattle to Kaikoura and then on to their final destinations,   •  Calve 450 registered Hereford cows – comprising 120
       which was hard on the bulls.                               two-year-old heifers and 330 mixed age cows (between
          “So we built a shed and more yards. It’s easier; we wander   home and lease block).
       the bulls down in the morning and pull them into the yards. It’s   •  Keep about 80 bulls for the two-year-old sale; sell about
       the best thing we have ever done,” James says.             150 bulls as yearlings privately.
          They have many clients in common with Woodbank, and   •  Buy in fattening cattle to finish.
       find people like to alternate between Hereford and Angus. “At
       the end of the day, it’s about quality beef and it works really well
       having both breeds on offer.”                         a clever idea that made national news and paid off in spades.
          Despite the logistical difficulties thrown up by Mother Nature,   They ended up achieving their best average sale price ever,
       the Murrays decided 2017 would be no exception to the on-  with $7900. But they realise it could have been a completely
       farm sale rule, they just need to employ some creative thinking.  different story.
          They advertised and stated that anyone who purchased a   “We couldn’t take the bulls anywhere else and we decided,
       bull on June 20 at the sale would get their chopper ride for free,   no, we’re not going to change. It was a bit of a novelty, the
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