TORRISDALE MURRAY GREY STUD

Introduction:

TORRISDALE Murray Grey stud was established in the mid 1970s with a breeding up programme based on graded Murray Grey and Angus cows. With the use of AI Australian bloodlines were utilised but progress in the early years was slow with more bulls calves than heifers being born. By the early 1990s cow numbers were sufficient to warrant the purchase of stud sires from leading local Murray Grey Studs. A milestone was reached in 2000 with the importation of semen from an Australian sire direct to TORRISDALE. By 2004 the 1000^th registered TORRISDALE Murray Grey calf was born and in 2011 over 150 calves will be born at TORRISDALE.

Location:

TORRISDALE Farm is near Winton in Central Southland and consists of 125Ha of fertile flatland situated midway between the Oreti and Aparima rivers. With a relatively even spread of 900mm of rainfall per annum, a moderate warm summer but a coolish winter, TORRISDALE is well set up to allow the Murray Grey cattle achieve their potential.      

Currently:

Today the breeding programme at TORRISDALE is based on producing performance animals that fit well in the commercial requirements of the New Zealand beef industry. The Murray Grey breed is renowned for a number of attributes:

• moderate birth weight and ease of calving

• strong maternal traits with fertility

• early maturity with strong carcass qualities

• docility and adaptability

all of which are strongly pursued at TORRISDALE.

TORRISDALE genetics are used across a wide variety of breeding programmes - Murray Grey studs, Murray Grey and crossbred commercial herds, the dairy industry. This means that a variety of bulls and females are available, all meeting the commercial requirements of clients while maintaining the breeds' attributes.

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