A family business

Located on the lower east coast of the North Island, we generally experience wet winters and dry summers. The farming system at KayJay consists of 590 hectares 35% flat and the rest rolling to steep hill country. The Stud is run along side 2000 commercial breeding Ewes with all lambs finished on farm and 500 hoggets lambed. The cattle have to fit in within the larger farming system. We are currently calving 180 Stud cows including R2 Heifers, with numbers increasing annually. 40-50 R2 Bulls are sold at our annual on-farm sale in June and we also have a spring sale where we sell 20-30 yearling bulls and a selection of heifers. KayJay has had some strong sales over the years with demand for KayJay genetics coming from all corners of the country.

KayJay celebrated 65 years of breeding in 2023, however the Kjestrup family have been farming here since 1919. The Stud has had 3 Kjestrup generations at the helm with 3rd generation Roddy along with wife Sam currently running the stud along with Neil & Joan who are still heavily involved.