Page 4 - Brookwood Angus Sale 2021 ebook

FOREWORD

The reputation of Hawkes Bay having long dry summers is
certainly worthy given the last couple of summers here.
Last year was an absolute shocker and while this year we
remained in good shape right up to Christmas, we haven’t
had an Autumn rain and feed levels are virtually non existent.
We got the mower out and went nuts during October and
November, so were able to stack away a heap of supplement
that is highly valuable to us right now. That meant we had
the farm nicely cleaned up by the end of January, ready for
some top quality growth when the rains came.
They didn’t and we’re still waiting!
It amazed me last year and it has again this year, how
resilient the Angus Cattle are. In tough climatic conditions
like this it reminds you of the value of breed and genetics.
We’ve had a couple of staff changes here recently driven by
Joe, our main stockman, purchasing his first block south of
Dannevirke. Joe and wife Dee have purchased 200Ha through
straight out hard work (shearing, fencing and stockwork,
plus Dee as a Physiotherapist) and good past investment
options. They’ve done it with no outside assistance and they
are a credit to themselves and an example to the industry.
Ethan Howie joined us in November, straight out of school.
He’s been thrown in the deep end here multiple times and
still comes out swimming. A jack-of-all trades with a great
calm demeanour.
James Crysell and his partner Anoushka joined us in February.
James’ role is Stock Manager and he is having to very quickly
find his feet in a very tough season.
We should have warned James and Anoushka about
Brookwoods’ fertility as they had hardly unpacked before
finding out they are due in November.
Clint is still charging around spreading the Brookwood word.
A great asset to the team, he’s getting that much work in
the truck, we quite often don’t see him for a week. Partner
Larissa is left to hold the fort with Colt & Finn.
I feel privileged to have this very high quality team of people
that back myself and Meg and the Brookwood culture.

This years sale bulls have come through well. We managed
to have them ahead of where we normally would in January
which I guess has given us a bit of room to move throughout
this tough Autumn. In saying that, they have been getting
baleage since February because there simply wasn’t any feed
underneath them.

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