New Zealand beef farmers are reaping the benefits of sky high international prices for grain biofuels.
North American meat producers are becoming so fond of grass-fed beef they've bought the entire livestock of a Wanganui stud farm.
The cattle represent a lifetime's work for Rotokawa studmaster Ken McDowall.
Semen from Rotokawa's giant bulls has been sent to North America and around the world for the past decade, producing royal show champions.
But when McDowall revealed he was planning to retire, the Americans wanted his livestock.
"What was most important to us was that they did stay together and had an opportunity to have an impact on the beef market in the states," says McDowall.
The Rotokawa stud is not saying just exactly how much the herd has been sold for to America.
But one cow born from semen from the herd recently sold in the United States for more than $NZ17,000.
McDowall says American restaurants, especially on the East Coast, now prefer the taste of grass-fed beef to the traditional grain-fed animals.
He says it's a better quality of beef, being tender and a better flavour.
But there's also the growing demand for grain as biofuel.
The herd will spend 30 days in North American quarantine before heading to farms in New England, Texas and Arkansas.
"They've been a big part of our lives and it's going to be sad to see them go. Some of them have become friends," says Prue McDowall, Ken's wife.
