Words by Sandra Taylor – AngusPRO Magazine 2026
Eighteen years ago, Tom Hargreaves gave up his career as a full-time architect to take up the reins of his family’s South Canterbury farming business, including the long-established Kakahu Angus stud.
In that time, the business has added a 175 ha dairy farm to its existing commercial sheep and stud beef operation, become industry and, arguably, world leaders in breeding Charolais bulls for use in the dairy industry, reduced its reliance on two annual bull sales for cash-flow, established a Changus stud, and continued to breed Angus bulls that meet the needs of today’s – and tomorrow’s – commercial beef breeders and markets.
While it’s a far cry from Tom’s life as a Melbourne-based architect, it is a life that he and his wife Anna have embraced, and they have enjoyed the challenge of diversifying their business on the solid base built by Tom’s parents, Gerald and Sue.
Today, Kakahu covers more than 1600 ha and runs 2000 commercial ewes, 800 commercial cattle, 450 Angus stud cattle, 90 stud Charolais, 60 Changus cows and 420 dairy cows.
Tom says they run an integrated business, testing their genetics through their own dairy cows, ensuring they’re breeding bulls they know will add value to both dairy and traditional beef businesses.
They have certainly shown what is possible with their Charolais stud and, seeing the direction of travel around the need to reduce wastage in the dairy industry, have produced bulls that can safely be used across dairy cows to produce high carcase value, fast finishing beef calves.
The Hargreaves bought their Charolais stud 18 years ago, and Tom says they made the decision to breed Charolais with a focus on calving ease and growth rates so they could be used confidently in the dairy industry.
“Ethically, dairy farmers want to reduce the number of bobby calves they produce and are looking for beef cattle to add value to their businesses. They need exceptional calving ease and growth rates, and we have been able to achieve this with our Charolais.”
Change in focus
Tom describes Kakahu as a diverse business, of which Angus is a part.
Traditionally, 70 percent of Kakahu’s income came from two annual Angus bull sales. For Tom and Anna, this represented too much risk, and today bull sales account for 31 percent of income while overall income has doubled over the past 10 years.
“We wanted to improve our income without taking on so much risk,” says Tom.
The Kakahu Angus stud was established by Tom’s grandfather in 1954. Tom’s parents, Gerald and Sue, grew stud cow numbers to 600, from which they would sell upwards of 300 bulls annually.
Today, they run 450 cows and sell around 200 bulls every year. While numbers have reduced, income from bull sales has not, with bulls now averaging $10,000, up from $6,500 when Tom first returned home.
Tom and Anna have no desire to sell extremely high-priced bulls. Instead, their focus is on breeding quality animals that remain within reach of the average commercial beef breeder.
Increasingly, income is being generated through the sale of semen and embryos, particularly into the dairy industry.
Tom says there are dairy farmers who do not require a colour mark and are very comfortable using Angus genetics to add value to their non-replacement calf crop.
Kakahu genetics are now being sold into the UK, Ireland and Australia, alongside New Zealand, with very recent first sales into Uruguay.
They have been particularly motivated by the success of selling Charolais genetics into the dairy industry, and Tom says that more than 70 percent of Charolais dairy-cross calves born in NZ are now sired by a Kakahu bull.
Don’t forget the cows
There is a lot of focus on bulls when it comes to genetics, but Tom points out that cows still have an influence on how the calf comes out.
He says it is important to have calving ease inherent in the herd, and this means looking at the pedigrees and genetics when selecting replacement heifers.
“You can’t always blame the bulls. Bulls have an influence, but calving ease isn’t something you can fix overnight. You need to follow a robust programme.
Uruguay
Last year, Tom was contacted by a friend with interests in a farming operation in Uruguay. Keen to improve the performance of a 3000-cow beef herd, he asked Tom to supply the genetics to help achieve their production goals.
Tom travelled to Uruguay and was excited by the potential to lift beef production in a country very similar to New Zealand, with a grass-based system and benign climate.
“It’s the first time New Zealand beef genetics have been used at this scale in Uruguay, and it’s super-cool to be part of that.”
The farming operation, using Kakahu genetics, is a leading business in Uruguay and will demonstrate what is possible with the right mix of genetics and forages.
“They’ll be leading the charge. Most farmers don’t want to take risks; they want to see that it works before making changes.”
Tom and Anna are looking forward to hosting Uruguayan farmers in May and plan to return later in the year, believing the country represents a market with significant untapped potential.
Artificial breeding
Even within New Zealand, there has been growing interest in artificial breeding in commercial beef herds, and Tom believes this reflects a genuine focus on genetics, whether sourced from New Zealand or elite overseas bulls.
“If farmers are keen to run a synchronisation and AI programme, it shows they are thinking seriously about genetics and using it as a tool to drive change.”
AI gives farmers access to bulls they may not be able to justify purchasing outright, while also offering management benefits. Cattle handled frequently through an AI programme are typically quieter than their herd-mates.
“Genetics is only part of docility. While it does play a role, management has a significant influence.”
Before investing in genetics, Tom encourages farmers to focus on the traits that pay the bills. For commercial beef breeders, this means carcass traits particularly weight and yield.
He says carcass weight is under-rated, and carcasses yielding just four percent above the national average can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars over a farmer’s lifetime, simply through the use of the right genetics.
Future focused
Tom believes conversations around the environmental impact of livestock farming are not going away and are an issue the sector cannot ignore.
Given New Zealand’s greenhouse gas profile, the carbon footprint of cattle remains under scrutiny, and Tom is mindful that farmers could be asked to reduce livestock numbers as a simple pathway to lower emissions.
“We may have to reduce numbers unless we can prove we are carbon neutral.”
He believes future progress will rely on breeding cows that are more feed-efficient, although research in this area remains in its early stages, particularly in pasture-based systems.
Within their own business, resilience to a changing climate is a key focus, with options such as wintering barns under consideration.
Tom and Anna have embraced technologies, including genomics and DNA testing, to accelerate genetic gain.
“Without genomics, genetic gain simply isn’t fast enough. There is too much guesswork.”
Genomics improves the accuracy of Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) by providing clearer insight into which side of the pedigree an animal has inherited.
“It allows us to see where calves truly sit genetically, so there are fewer surprises and far more confidence in the numbers.”
Tom says farmer expectations around genetics have changed significantly.
“In the past, there was more of a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude. That’s no longer the case and rightly so, because we’re investing more in genetics.”
“We, as performance breeders, are telling our clients what our bulls will do, so we have to stand behind our genetics. If they don’t perform, farmers will come back and tell us.”
Where commercial breeders were once loyal to a single stud, Tom says many are now buying genetics from multiple sources and measuring what performs best in their system.
He has also noticed increased interest in beef production, particularly as farmers get older.
“People are falling out of love with sheep. Wool has been disappointing, and there’s more work involved. Cattle are easier to manage, and farmers are being rewarded for investing in genetics.”
Tom sees it as a privilege to meet clients’ needs and have a tangible impact on their bottom line.