Kaikoura farmer, inventor and entrepreneur, Doug Beattie was one of the first breeders of Murray Grey cattle in New Zealand in the 1970's. Today Doug still runs 170 Murray Grey cattle on their 240 acre property, two kilometres from the coast, which they have owned since 1964. They had previously managed a larger property in Seddon for eleven years.
"I know Marlborough pretty well," Doug explained, "and the drought situation in Seddon drove it out of contention, when we finally decided to buy a farm of our own, and Kaikoura has proven a very good area. We get the odd drought but nothing like they are getting farther north around Blenheim. We were there for the drought of 1958, and that was a bad one."
They had originally farmed Angus, Simmental and Charolais cattle, but changed to Murray Grey, initially due to the calving problems experienced by some early Charolais breeders. Disappointed by these concerns, they acted on information that Murray Greys were easy calvers. "And they have very much proved that, they are the easiest calvers of all breeds. I think probably because they have been selected very judiciously in the early stages of the breed. The Australians went to a lot of trouble to prove them to be the cattle they have (subsequently) become."
Doug believes the greatest reason for their continuing success as a breed has been their easy going temperament, describing them as basically 98 % black poll Aberdeen Angus, together with the original shorthorn breed that changed their colour. "But the temperament changed from the original Aberdeen Angus cattle," he said.
The Beatties are perhaps best known to the rural community as the makers of the number 8 insulator, with their permanent 'Y' and temporary 'Y' insulators probably being the best known in the country. They also developed the first pin lock insulators. It began in the late 1950's when Doug needed to put in a mile and a half of fencing on the Seddon property, at a time when permanent electric fencing was just starting to become a popular alternative to conventional fencing. The only system available at the time was the chain assembly where 4-5 electric wires were threaded through a chain suspended between two insulators, top and bottom. Doug felt this wasn't the right way to go.
"With the harsh climate and hot summers of Marlborough, the animals needed to be on sufficient moisture to complete the circuit and it wasn't earthing properly. I then designed insulators to go onto the warratah standards," Doug explained.
He produced his first insulator in 1959, and had them on the market by 1960. The first die they made cost £360, at a time when he was earning £16 a week as a manager. They needed to sell 100,000 units in the first year to recover the cost of the die. They sold over 250,000. "The first year it really took off, and we had a big market in Australia following that. We had patents for 16 years, but long before they expired the vultures were moving in - we got plenty of opposition."
They are still in the market place and while not selling as many as they used to, they have a much wider range. "We don't make the energisers, but a range of insulators that are second to none. And I've been involved with it now for 42 years," he proudly added.
The farm and insulator business is very much a family enterprise with Doug's daughter Linda Anderson running the office and son-in-law Grant helping on the farm for half days during the week, while living nearby on 50 acres of the original family farm which they bought 20 years ago.
Grandson Matthew also helps on the farm, as does Shaun occasionally, when not at school. Doug also has two sons Ivan and Roger who once had interests in a 9,000 acre property in the Chatham Islands. Roger has been involved in the paua industry for many years and has developed a paua pearl process whereby small buttons are implanted under the shell of mature paua, and grown at sea in barrels, where they are coated with the distinctive colourful shell pigments.
