OUR STORY
Our Story
Kerrah Simmentals was founded by Kevin and Colleen and Jon and Sam Knauf in 2005. The desire for the Simmental stud came from the superior performance of the Simmental cross cows in the crossbred herd, in growth, fertility and milking ability. The Kerrah herd was originally made up of the amalgamation of several leading New Zealand Simmentals herds, Puriri, Ailsa and Rissington. The inclusion of these herds takes the Kerrah herd to 520 fully registered calving females, putting it as Australasia's largest, and one of the leading gene pools of fully recorded Simmentals. The large number of cows allows for a more accurate assessment of the individual animals genetic merit with there being many animals to compare performance.
The stud is based at Tangiwai Station, a 1800ha hill country property 32km north of Wairoa, between the Gisborne and Hawkes Bay districts. Ranging from steep hill country, to medium hills and flats predominantly at the Iwitea block on the coast; the location is ideal for producing animals that perform in this difficult climate, in a commercially run and focused operation. Additional to the stud, Tangiwai runs 3,000 breeding ewes.
Tragically, we lost Kevin in an accident in January 2011. Kevin's vision and hard work were fundamental in the purchase of Tangiwai Station in 1994 and subsequent founding of the stud. He loved his family, farming, stock and involving the younger generation in farming. Colleen, Jon and Sam have continued with his legacy and believe he would be happy and proud of where the stud is today.
Initially, sale bulls were split at weaning, with half being sold at auction in Kimbolton and half being sold at Tangiwai. In the past 8 years, auction of approximately 80 bulls has been held on the home farm. A top selection of R2 Bulls are sold on-farm annually in May. Due to scale, we are also able to offer paddock sales and semen all year round.
We welcome enquiry and feedback, so feel free to get in touch!
Jon Knauf and Family.