Words by Rebecca Greaves and Images by Sarah Horrocks – AngusPRO Magazine 2026
Raetihi farmer Mark Bennett is a cattle man through and through; his beloved Angus cattle are the priority stock class on the farm, and he refers to them as his “little black goldmine”, never failing to deliver a return.
A proud family history and tradition are at the heart of Mark and Glenda Bennett’s drystock Raetihi farm, coupled with an eye to the future and willingness to adapt as the next generation takes the reins.
Mark is proudly old school, but open to change, as his son Robert takes over the running of the Ngapakihi Partnership, the fifth generation of Bennetts to farm the land. So long as Robert doesn’t sell the Angus herd, family relations will remain intact.
“We are in farm succession right now. Robert, his partner Brooke and son Grady, 2, are taking over. He’s one of four boys, and he is the one who was interested in farming; the other boys all have their own careers. This is his third year here at home. He, Brooke and Grady are the future. I’m just the old dog on his way out,” Mark laughs.
The partnership was named after the Ngapakihi survey block, and Mark confesses he is “old fashioned”, an acres and inches man. The farm is 1200 acres, comprising 550 acres of rolling hill country and 650 acres of flat, with about 150 acres of native bush. Soils are free-draining volcanic loam ash, and annual rainfall is about 60 inches.
Winters can be harsh, which limits the stock carrying capacity.
Stock policies are low fuss, with 800 breeding ewes (Wairere Romney ram) and 160 Angus breeding cows (Ranui Angus bulls). All progeny are fattened on an all-grass and clover feed system. Five-year-old ewes go to a Ranui Hampshire black face ram and lamb in August, while the white face ewes lamb in early to mid-September.
Lambs are picked regularly as they are ready, at about 21 kg carcase weight.
“You can only sell it once, so we try to maximise the weight.”
The emphasis is on easy care, low input stock classes, and the Angus cattle herd has been heavily influenced by American genetics over the years, thanks to the bulls purchased from Ranui Angus.
The Bennetts keep all their own replacements, 35 heifers a year, and culls go to local trade (AFFCO).
When picking animals, all killed through AFFCO, there are no scales; it’s all done by eye.
“The first cattle pick is at about two-and-a-half-years. The buyer comes and picks solely on condition, same as the lambs. No scales, old school.”
In keeping with the traditional approach, there is no heifer or hogget mating, stock is allowed to grow and mature.
“We don’t pull any calves, I think we have pulled one in 15 years, and that was because it was breech. To me, that’s the American bloodlines, the easy calving. The cattle are easy care now.”
Mark’s preference for his cattle is clear; he reduced sheep numbers over the years, and cattle are treated as top priority. The sheep are getting pushed back into the hills, and the cattle are taking over on the flats.
“My father was running 2000 breeding ewes in the 80s and 90s, I’m down to 800. We have gone more and more cattle, though we’ve always had a higher ratio of cattle to sheep.”
The reason is simple – economics.
“Beef has been pretty steady over the years; lamb jumps up and down. Cattle are the most important stock class. I describe my Angus herd as a little black goldmine. It would be the last class of stock I would ever get rid of.”
Mark likes the hardiness of the Angus breed, especially in cold Raetihi winters. Cattle are wintered on the hill country in the bush from early May to September 1, when they come down to the flats to calve.
“The harder the winter, the deeper into the bush they go. They’re really good doers; they get out and forage. Then they come down and deliver a calf, calve easily, and we’ve got the temperament sorted, too. We can walk around cows and calves, and they don’t bat an eyelid – that’s solely down to buying Ranui bulls with good temperaments.”
The only exception to the all-grass system is a swede crop, used for replacement heifers and weaners.
“The last 10 years we have just set-stocked the cows. My father used to have a sacrifice paddock and break feed them, but he had a bit of trouble with them getting mis-mothered when shedding them out.”
Set-stocked cows are given daily baleage and magnesium, which has virtually eliminated the grass staggers that plagued them through the 80s.
Long-standing relationship
Unsurprisingly, the Bennett family’s relationship with the Johnstone family at Ranui Angus is a long standing one. Three generations of Bennetts have purchased bulls and rams from three corresponding generations of Johnstones, an association that reaches back more than 50 years.
Mark’s grandfather first went to Ranui to buy bulls in 1974 from Lindsay senior (he explains that the eldest boy in each generation of Johnstones at Ranui has been named Lindsay).
“My grandfather went to Lindsay Johnstone Senior in Te Puke, before they moved to where they are now in Whanganui. They [Ranui] just had their 45th bull sale; we were buying them before that, when they were doing home sales at Te Puke.”
Mark values the history they have with the Johnstones and explains that Ranui genetics have influenced his own herd hugely, as they looked to create a larger framed cattle beast that would kill out at heavy weights, without running over-fat.
“When I left school at 17 and came home here, we were happy if a two-year-old Angus steer killed out at 270kg. They were shorter, fatter cattle, and it was hard to get weight into them. Through the Johnstones, we have gone to larger framed cattle; we wanted to get some size into them.”
For Mark personally, the breakthrough came when Lindsay Snr (Lin), whom his father dealt with, went to Montana, America and started to introduce American bloodlines, particularly through the use of a bull called Pine Drive.
“We bought a lot of Pine Drive bulls and offshoots of Pine Drive Big Sky. That really changed our breed; we got the height and length.”
With the introduction of Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) the Bennetts began buying based on negative rib fat, chasing the leaner genetics.
“This was because we had got our cattle so big we wanted something we could stuff a lot of grass into without getting the over-fats or trimmers.”
Other EBVs they factored in included low birthweight, good growth rates and lower body fat.
“Pine Drive Big Sky was a big American bull who had all the characteristics we wanted. We followed that up with a lot of American blood, including Scotch Cap and we are on to Hoover Dam now.”
Lindsay Snr (Lin) passed away a few years ago, but his son Lindsay carried on with the American blood and also introduced some Australian genetics.
These days, when looking at traits, Mark’s number one priority is temperament. They still look for relatively low birthweight and have just moved to positive rib fat, as they have reached the stage where they can keep pushing feed into the cattle, which get heavier and heavier, without going over-fat.
Mark also buys black face Hampshire rams from the Johnstone family.
“They have been very good to us.”
Generally, the Bennetts operate a one in, one out policy when it comes to bulls, purchasing one annually, but on the odd occasion, they have purchased two.
Changing times
Despite Mark’s self-confessed old school tendencies, he is on board with Robert’s decision to move away from wool, last year purchasing two purebred Nudie rams from Wairere.
“He doesn’t like dags, obviously, and he’s going to change to wool-less sheep. That’s the young guy coming through. It’s a big call, we can always breed our way back I suppose, but what dollars per kilogram would wool have to go to before you go back to wool, $10 or $12 greasy?”
Mark says they’re competing with nylon, the oil price is low, and there’s no shortage of it in the world. He just can’t see people paying megabucks for wool.
“We have given up on wool, and we’re going to raise our sheep like we are raising our cattle – dock, drench, go on the truck.”
All the work currently is in sheep, Mark says; the cattle are easy. The move to Nudies represents a desire for lower inputs and less labour.
Mark is philosophical about the demise of wool.
“It’s probably not what a lot of people want to hear, but it’s how it is.”
It takes 1.5 labour units to run the farm at the moment, Mark being the .5, and he believes
Robert will be able to run at one labour unit in the future.
Development of the ground is complete, and stumping is finished.
“I purchased a digger and finished the last 50 acres they had given up on. My grandfather came here in 1960, it was 2500 acres, a lot in stumps and cut over native bush. They had a D8 Caterpillar bulldozer from their sawmill days and pushed all the stumps into windrows that provide shelter, a lot was burned too – that took 20 years,” Mark recalls.
When Mark’s grandfather was running the place, there were five full-time staff employed.
“That’s how it’s gone with machinery and technology; we can now run it with one man. I think now, it will just be a case of refining things on the farm.”
In many ways, the changing of the guard at the Bennett family farm has mirrored succession at Ranui, representing a willingness to adapt and evolve while honouring the traditional way of doing things.
“The future, my future, is succession with my son. What Lindsay and his wife Maria are doing now with AngusPRO and registering with Angus Australia, importing Australian blood and keeping up with the Americans, I think this new direction means he is still advancing his stud.
“They brought in the temperament score and more structural assessments. I still pick by eye, but my son, he is more interested in buying a bull on figures.”
Mark believes that’s why you get out and let the young guy have a go, they have new ideas.
“As long as he doesn’t sell the Angus cattle, I will be happy.”