Red Cow Farm

Call Directions Contact the business

Red Cow Farm Red Cow Farm is a 600-cow Milking Shorthorn farm in Mid Canterbury, New Zealand.

Owner, Mark McDonald, has been breeding Milking Shorthorns since 1987, making him one of the most prominent breeders of red cattle in New Zealand.

A few years ago I had the chance to purchase a first cross HF X Milking Shorthorn from retiring dairyfarmers Matt and Sh...
21/10/2026

A few years ago I had the chance to purchase a first cross HF X Milking Shorthorn from retiring dairyfarmers Matt and Sheree Adkins. She was from a calf they had purchased from me by a Samen Red Holstein sire named Sunflower P RF.
I registered her in the supplementary section of the herdbook. Today as an 8 year old she classified EXC 92 !!!
Another very sharp cow by Gorbro Sunstorm Supreme ET scored EXC 91. She’s a 5 year old.
Both these cows produced eye catching heifer calves this spring

21/09/2026

Here's a good example of what we need more of in our herd. This is Brecon ND Eliza, about to calve as a 10 year old. Still competing. Last season she produced 553kgs m/s.
And this is her 3rd calving daughter, Brecon Jazzy Eliza who may just be our show cow this season if I can find someone to keep that white coat clean!!!?? She's developing into a lovely open frame cow with a great udder.
ND Eliza is also the dam of Brecon Eduardo who sired some oustanding uddered cows in our herd. If anybody happened to have any Eduardo straws hiding in their semen banks, I'd be keen to hear from you.

My young bulls are heading home from Xcell Breeding Services today. All six of them have completed their collections. Th...
16/09/2026

My young bulls are heading home from Xcell Breeding Services today. All six of them have completed their collections. This post is for any Australian farmers who might be interested to know that 2 of the bulls were collected for Australia. The shipment will be dispatched in the next few weeks and straws will be available from SEMEX (Australia). The number of doses sent will be dependent on pre-orders. So if anyone is interested contact SEMEX for pricing details.
The first bull is Brecon Neddie P, An A2A2 polled bull from a strong maternal line in the herd. Good components throughout his pedigree.
The second is Brecon Hendrix, A1A2. His dam is a very special young cow from one of the best cows we've ever milked, Brecon Fons Helen. Helen has recently calved for the 8th season in a row and looks to have many more years in her. As with Neddie P, Hendrix should transmit high components.
In New Zealand, Neddie P is available from LIC and Hendrix is marketed by SEMEX (NZ)

15/09/2026

In week 6 of AI last season I received a shipment of Glenbrook Ghost straws from Australia. So I used him exclusively in that last week. The resulting calves have been coming into the sheds over the last week and there’s some really nice colours. They all have good strong heads and wide muzzles which I like to see in calves.
I also caught a glimpse of Ghost’s dam at the Adelaide Royal show rectangle she’s still a cracking cow.

Here’s a few shots from the calf pens. Some nice coloured calves this year. Brecon Atilla has thrown some beautiful roan...
31/08/2026

Here’s a few shots from the calf pens. Some nice coloured calves this year. Brecon Atilla has thrown some beautiful roans and Brecon Kilkenny some deep reds. There’s some interesting bull calves in there as well.
Of the first 80 to be dehorned, 24 were polled.
I’m waiting eagerly on calves to come from Glenbrook Ghost, who I used towards the end of mating because of a delay in getting it across the Tasman.

We all have those special cows that we especially look forward to calving each spring….Brecon Taika Rachael is one of th...
06/08/2026

We all have those special cows that we especially look forward to calving each spring….Brecon Taika Rachael is one of those. She calved today for the 6th time (5th time in early August) with another bull. This time by Cotonhall Solaris.
This year it’s a straight red, last year it was pure white, Brecon Ruataniwha. He left on a truck this morning heading to Xcell Breeding Services for collection. Ruataniwha is being marketed by WWS and he’s another one that will leave blue calves when mated to Holstein Friesians.

I posted a while back that we'd managed to get sexed semen off 524441 Brecon Finnegan. I'm just getting sorted to have t...
24/07/2026

I posted a while back that we'd managed to get sexed semen off 524441 Brecon Finnegan. I'm just getting sorted to have the last of it shipped from Hamilton to Christchurch. There's 150 straws. If anybody in the Upper North Island is interested in some before it's transferred south, get in touch with me on 0274 790 175. The cost is $55 per straw plus dispatch costs. It is currently with CRVambreed.

Here's the second young sire available from LIC. Brecon Neddy P, an A2A2 polled red bull. Neddy has a very deep pedigree...
12/07/2026

Here's the second young sire available from LIC. Brecon Neddy P, an A2A2 polled red bull. Neddy has a very deep pedigree. The Nellie family has produced many top production cows over the years. It descends from a cow bought from the well respected Greystone herd.
The paternal granddam Brecon Hel Erin is consistently near the top in Ruurd and Rachel Lieuwe's herd, and calves at regular 12 month intervals.
I think Neddy is a bull that's hard to fault if you're looking for good reliable cows for grazing farm systems.

It's that time of the year when the young bulls head to Xcell Breeding Services to be collected. There's a couple that a...
12/07/2026

It's that time of the year when the young bulls head to Xcell Breeding Services to be collected. There's a couple that are being collected for LIC, a straight white one, Brecon Landman and a straight red one, Brecon Neddie P. Both are A2 but I want to focus on the white one here.
For those who love blue cows, here's a bull that will throw blue calves when mated to straight Holstein Friesians. He's suitable for use over yearlings also.
I don't have a decent photo of his dam but I will attach a couple of photos of blue cows we've bred in the past.
If you're interested in semen, contact your LIC sales rep and ask for info on 526497 Brecon Landman.

Recently 524441 Brecon Finnegan returned to Xcell Breeding Services for semen collection. Strong demand over the last co...
04/05/2026

Recently 524441 Brecon Finnegan returned to Xcell Breeding Services for semen collection. Strong demand over the last couple of seasons saw his semen sold out. But this time we had the option of sexing the straws, and today I heard that he had produced well with close to 450 sexed straws. I think this would be the first time a NZ Milking Shorthorn bull has had sexed semen collected.
Finnegan is A2A2 and already has calves on the ground. The few I have on the farm are very strong deep calves. He is sired by Brecon Hurricane from a very good Vario daughter.
So if anybody is interested in a few straws, message me on 0274 790 175. I can't quote a price just yet as I'm not aware of the collection costs.

Address

195 Ashburton River Road
Ashburton
7776

Telephone

+64274790175

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Red Cow Farm posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Red Cow Farm:

Shortcuts

Share