New York hungry for NZ cattle

New Zealand heifers are being flown to America to improve the tenderness of steaks in New York restaurants.

A dozen red devons have been sent to re-establish the breed in the United States.

Rotokawa Devon Stud airfreighted the 30-month-old heifers to New York from Marangai, south of Wanganui, this week to form the base of the new herd for a consortium of New England farmers.

American breeder Gerald Fry sought out the cattle on a global mission to find beef genetics that would produce tender and tasty steaks for the huge New York restaurant trade.

According to Fry, red devons were the first cattle the northern European settlers took to the Americas in the 17th century, because they could be used as oxen to pull ploughs and wagons as well as be milked.

The cattle, known as "red ruby devons", still had tender meat when slaughtered after growing too old to work.

In the US, the breed's genetic pool has shrunk to the point where it will not survive without a concerted breeding programme, which has been organised by the New England Livestock Alliance.

Fry said the cattlemen had recognised the importance of the breed's ability to be raised on grass, its docility and the quality of its meat.

Extensive research to locate the world's top devon genetics indicated the Rotokawa stud managed by New Zealander Ken McDowall best suited the American project. Last year the consortium imported "a considerable quantity of straws" of semen from the bulls Rotokawa 667 and Rotokawa 688.

The Rotokawa cattle were chosen because they were based on 23 years of breeding, with total purity, and a reliance on grass pastures, Fry said.

This week's shipment of pregnant females represents four bloodlines.

The females chosen were of a moderate size, very thick in the rump area.

The Rotokawa stud is owned by Jeannie Lilburn. It also exports semen to Brazil, Britain and Australia.

- NZPA