British Whites - A little history of them in New Zealand

As one (avidly) reads our Rare Breeds Magazine, one realises that the owners of Rare Breeds are unique and in fact, Rare Breeds, themselves!

The Gods have smiled upon me, in that after many years of running a commercial dairy farm, raising a family and doing all the family things like sports training, Kids’ Taxi Service, Board of Trustees, YFC, Federated Farmers, Farm Forestry (and many more!), I can finally realise my dream of becoming a "rare breeder".

City-born, a JAFA in fact, I am one of the privileged Kiwis that started with nothing and climbed the ladder: Farm Cadet, share-milking, farm ownership and now fulfilling a "Dream" of having a farm that I can enjoy. It won't make any money of course, this new farm is Spakr Farm, on the banks of the Waitoa River, surrounded by beautiful specimen trees.

This lovely farm is being repopulated with the remnants of my British White Herd, which was milked with the Dairy Herd for 40 years and cohabitated with the derivatives of Mary Hutchinson's Wiltshire Flock (both Horned and Polled). When fully stocked up we will have 60 British White cows (currently 35), 70 Wiltshire Ewes and all their progeny.

I do confess to having an ever-expanding number of sheds (in addition to having locally probably the highest HP (iron horse) per hectare ratio, much to my children's "chagrin"... or embarrassment).

However, as many of you will know, this is the price you pay for being a "rare breed" and it certainly adds, considerably, to the great "wisdoms" (and banter) tossed around at the "Sports Bar" (where I watch the Rugby with a particularly vocal and of course extremely knowledgeable, team of sporting experts), in the Waihou Tavern.

My love affair with British Whites started last century when I was privileged to attend one of the last Royal Shows at Warwickshire, UK. Being in Farming "heaven" I trawled around, kicking everything that could be kicked and somehow arrived (it wasn't shiny or groomed like everything else) at the (very) small Rare Breeds Stand. It was here that I learnt the "tragedy" of modern agriculture, and that we were losing 40 domestic breeds per year to modernisation, and dare I say it, "Industrial Farming".

As a 21-year-old, with not much wisdom or anything going for me, I made a “pact" with myself, that I would protect at least two breeds in my Farming lifetime. And so started the “journey", as I only owned the shoes that I was walking in at the time.

Another trip to the UK a few years later, up in the Hills of Wales, Hywel Price had taken me to see a range of Exotic Cattle. We were tootling home and passed these beautiful white cows in a meadow of a magnificent Estate Home.

On asking Hywel (in his 80s) what breed they were, he said they were British Whites, and that Michael Wright, the current prime custodian of the Breed (which was down to 200 animals worldwide) wouldn’t mind at all if we wandered through them.

It was love at first sight!

These animals were hugely fat, so placid you could go up to them and scratch behind their ears, and even sit on one of them. There is a photo somewhere in one of my (many) sheds!

So started my journey to being an owner of British Whites in New Zealand (Andrew Ball also has a few at Turua). I’m proud to say the world-wide numbers are up to over 2,000 now.

The Wiltshire sheep was a similar story, and as one who fought on Colin Moyles’s side for the Dairy Board of the Wool Industry, I could see that Wool was doomed. While I have been ridiculed for many years (though our kids thrived at rugby training, catching lambs - and lambs with horns are better than any motorbike!), I have lived to see the critical value of the Rare Breeds Fraternity as our national Flock (sadly goes wool-less).

I was particularly fortunate to have picked up some of the best genetics from Roland Summers, ex-MAF and ex-Whatawhata Research Station.

So yes, I'm fortunate to have been able to realise a dream and a pact, and as I go out the door to do my calving beat, I'll be greeted by an aging Eye Dog, one Indian Runner Duck (awesome "Barnyard" pets), two Bantams and a Barnyard cat all who love me... Well to be honest, they love me giving them food at 5pm!

It is truly a Rare and wonderful life!

- Keith Holmes Images by Ella Pirie Photography