GET TO KNOW US
Our Business
Philip and Katherine McCallum, owners of Rockley Angus stud, produce Angus bulls with proven traits, delivering solid genetics to the New Zealand market.
Rockley Angus stud is part of our 320ha Rockley Farm, which is located in Balfour, 30 minutes north of Gore at the base of the Hokonui Hills. We sell our bulls as yearlings at our annual sale, and have built trusting relationships with our clients.
Alongside our 100 stud cows, Rockley Farm is used to run 1500 Tefrom sheep and graze young dairy cattle. We also own MCM Dairies ltd in Mandeville, which at peak milks 650 cows. We work hard to manage all our mobs while maintaining animal health and getting the best efficiencies out of our stock.
WHO WE ARE
Our Story
Katherine and Philip have farming in their blood – beef on one side, dairy on the other – and family support has played a huge part in their journey to establish Rockley Angus.
The stud goes from strength to strength each year, but the business had humble beginnings. As a teenager Katherine showed beef cattle at A&P shows and developed an interest in breeding Angus cows. When Katherine’s grandparents, Fred and Judith Stevens retired from farming, they gifted her two heifers. With a keen interest in genetics, Katherine started the Angus Stud when she was 16 years old.
Helped by her uncle, a stud stock agent from the North Island, she set about developing her stud by buying ‘seconds’ from other stud breeders. With her finger on the pulse with genetics, and her sights set on establishing a successful Angus stud, Katherine continued to grow her numbers and refine the genetics of her cows.
Philip’s background is in dairy farming. In 2008, Philip’s parents Lloyd and Kathy McCallum bought a farm in Mossburn and Rockley Farm ltd began, where Philip and Katherine furthered their sheep and beef skills alongside breeding their own Angus cattle. After selling Mossburn, the pair partnered up with Philip’s parents to purchase Katherine’s family farm, where Rockley Angus continues today.
In 2020, Katherine and Philip bought out Lloyd and Kathy to own Rockley Farm outright. The pair also own MCM Dairies in Mandeville, where Philip offers hands-on support to the contract milkers overseeing the farm.
While growing Rockley Angus, Philip and Katherine have also been busy raising their three children. Like their parents and grandparents, the kids all show some interest in farming. Their eldest, Tim, loves wandering up the hills in his gumboots looking for deer, while Zac has an eye for a good bull and Emma, the youngest, is good with the numbers.
Katherine and Philip are focused on balancing Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs), calving ease and heifer mating, and sell their bulls as yearlings. In the early days of Rockley Angus, the goal was to put up 30 yearling bulls at their annual sale – a figure they have since surpassed. The goal now is to maintain the number and quality of bulls to deliver strong Angus genetics to the market and optimise value for commercial farmers.
