Mt Mable History - Mt Mable Angus

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Mt Mable History

Mt Mable Angus
 
The home of quality cattle bred for what is REALLY important ..........
- constitution, fertility, longevity, actual carcase
- all while being a pleasure to handle
– think you cannot have it all ........time to think again.

Kevin & Megan Friel - 625 Jackson Road, R.D.1, Woodville 4997 - Phone: (06) 376 4543

Mt Mable Angus - Mt Mable History

Mt Mable Angus Stud was established at Ohura in 1967 by Allen and Maisie Friel, with the majority of foundation stock acquired from the renowned Puketutu Stud. Over the next 30 years a type of animal was striven for and with careful breeding as a result Mt Mable cattle are very even and easily identifiable. Mt Mable bulls were mostly sold within the local Ohura area which at the time was dominated by Angus breeding cows.


Kevin has been handling and breeding cattle since he was a child – and apart from several stints as a shearer (including many to the UK) to raise capital to buy the farm and stock from his parents he has been a pivotal team member at Mt Mable Angus. Allen became unwell in the early 90’s and it fell to Kevin and his mother to take up the reins of the stud until Kevin and Megan took over the farm and stud in 1997. Kevin and Megan were married in 1998. Megan had spent many years banking in a variety of roles from telling to fraud investigation and had spent some time on a high level computer project. Coming from Wellington as a single working mother to farming and Ohura was a major but welcome life change for both Megan and 2 year old Caitlin, who had been a day care kid. Two more lovely daughters, Sarah and Laura make up the Friel family.

After dealing for many years with the difficulties of an isolated location, with less than ideal roads or schooling, and a distinct lack of safe calving country the family and stud moved to expansive Pukerimu Station near Norsewood in 2008. In 2015 following a brush with cancer for Megan the hard thought out decision was made to sell Pukerimu (in much better shape than we found it) and a smaller property was purchased in the renown farming district of Kumeroa. This property, like Pukerimu has suffered from indifferent management and we are looking forward to the challenge of getting it “just right”. The cattle farming policies will remain unchanged but with the sale of the 50 year old Romdale ewe flock the cows will enjoy all our attention.

When we took over the stud we, Kevin and Megan, made a conscious decision to research the type of cattle which our existing buyers were looking for and to continue breeding those despite the allure of striving to make our mark as up and coming stud breeders and breed the “perfect stud” animal – as in our view the animals which the stud breeders were investing in would not suit the hard hill country onto which Mt Mable cattle were being sold.

With a swing to more fashionable exotic cattle genetics there was a massive reduction in Angus cow herds within the Ohura catchments. We made the decision in 1999 to expand our advertising to a national level and were able to attract new buyers from as far a field as Kaukapakapa believing that if we could get people to tackle the hour long drive inland from Taumarunui they would like what they saw. It was a well founded belief as we are still selling bulls to some very happy buyers in Kaukapakapa and now also send some regularly to Kaikohe. Our clients often become our very good friends who are very valued. Since relocating to Norsewood from Ohura we continue to sell many bulls to our existing locals, and those who made the trek to Ohura, and have been rewarded for our faith and have met and sold bulls to many new faces in the East coast region.


Our sire selection over the last 40 years of breeding has always been careful and considered and made to breed the type of cattle which thrive in a variety of conditions, have good temperaments, good structure and feet and good fertility. As we have not used a lot of imported genetics for the last 20 years or so our figures are not our strongest point – however we have resisted “boosting” our EBV’s (Estimated Breeding Values) through using fashionable and highly figured animals as generally we have seen nothing, except their figures, to redeem them. We believe in breeding cattle based on lines of pedigree and years of family performance rather than the recent trend of breeding “paint by number” cattle. There is little skill or talent involved in having a computer select your sires for you.

Mt Mable cattle are continually assessed and anything of note recorded – we cull on fertility (no excuses), structure, temperament and constitution – all these factors are considered equally in our decision making processes.

Sales have been held on our own property annually since 1986.

Last sale at Ohura 2008
Mt Mable Angus
625 Jackson Road, R.R. 1,
Woodville 4997

Kevin & Megan Friel
Phone: (06) 376 4543
Mobile: Megan 027 625 8526
Kevin 027 667 7795
Email: kev.meg.co@xtra.co.nz




The long and winding gravel road which is the Waitewhena in Ohura - our old road



Kevin and his Dad Allen - and dog Bruce 1967
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