In 2012 we began our new venture of breeding horned Herefords. The stud was established from cows that came from Anna’s parents stud.
Na Puteputi Herefords was started in 1968 by Anna’s parents Peter and Jill Smyth with the purchase of 5 cows from the Bushy Downs stud of Martin Port, Te Awamutu. These were of Bushy Downs and Maungahina blood. Prior to this Peter’s father Ewen had purchased cows from the renowned stud of RE Jefferson, Alton Herefords. However, he had not registered the progeny from these cows, and Peter was not able to retrospectively. The property already ran commercial Hereford cows so Peter decided to venture into the stud game to breed bulls for themselves. Peter formed a great relationship with Martin Port from the Bushy Downs stud and his son Robert. It was decided to form the stud from their cows as their herd had also been using bloodlines from Alton Herefords and they also sold females in their annual sale. The first stud bull was Kiwi 167 (Jack), purchased from Jack Hodgson, Wairoa. And so began the 48 year journey of breeding Hereford cattle in the hills of Northern Hawkes Bay. Jill’s enthusiasm for the cattle also grew over the years and she became heavily involved in the stud with the showing, breeding and also did the A.I herself.
In those early days there were about 27 Hereford studs in the Wairoa/Gisborne area, so the days of Herd Tours, Bull walks, Eastland Hereford club meetings and shows made for some very interesting, hectic and exciting times. Those were the days when the largest cow breeding herds were in this area, many of which are now planted in trees. When the cattle started making their journey south to Silverstream, there were only 3 Hereford studs left in Eastland.
The cows were run on Smyth family property located an hour north of Napier near Raupunga. The property was 1300 acres of both steep hill and flat above the Mohaka River. The stud cows were run alongside the commercial cows and Romney sheep. The cows were run under tough conditions so constitution, structure, fertility and temperament were paramount.
Showing played a large part in the lives of all the Smyth family, with Anna and her sisters heavily involved with preparation and the actual showing. Hawkes Bay and Poverty Bay shows were always attended, and for a few years Dannevirke, Manawatu and Masterton were also on the schedule. This is where Anna’s passion for cattle began.
When the numbers built up, bulls were sold privately until 1994 when bulls were auctioned at the 1st Wairoa Combined Breeders Bull Sale. This was a mixed breed sale and bulls were sold there until 2013. In 2014 the first Pute Hereford bulls were sold at the Silverstream Annual Bull Sale.
Peter was very involved with NZ Herefords and was on the council for 10 years of which he was the president from 2011- 2013. Peter and Jill became Life Members of NZ Herefords in 2019.
Over the years many international sires were used, most of which Peter and Jill found in their travels round Australia and later Canada and USA. A visit to the Sydney show was almost obligatory, the halcyon days of 250 lead horned Herefords and every breeder in Australia and many from NZ attending. They were pretty exciting times.
The herd before Peter and Jill’s retirement consisted of 70 horned cows and 30 polled cows. The first shipment of females came down to Silverstream in 2011. They continued to come in small lots. Retirement in 2016, saw the last of the cows go south to Anna and Brent at Silverstream where they continue to thrive, and they put their take on the cattle going forward. In total 50 odd females came south which were all Horned Herefords. Aside from 2 calves in the first shipment to Brent and Anna the polled cows were sold separately. Silverstream Herefords still record their Herefords under the Pute prefix that was established over 50 years ago. We now calve 80 odd females every spring.