Page 20 - 2020 NZ Hereford Magazine

“I didn’t really see a lot of the sales because I was always doing Cam had a couple of days warning for his first auction of
something, but I remember walking into the selling rostrum one lambs at the Feilding sale.
day and saw Pat Cooper selling a bull. I was a little bit mesmerised “I don’t think I slept for two days. I was almost trying to hide
by it. I remember watching him and thinking, ‘man, that’s what I when we got onto the smaller lambs at the back of the sale
want to do’.” because I knew it was going to happen soon. Then they gave
me the book and I gave it a go,” he recalls.
“WOULD YOU LIKE A HALF? I’M HERE TO HELP.” “I would have to say I was pretty untidy. I probably felt sorry
After a few years as a commercial agent covering the Feilding, for the vendor, to be fair.”
Pahiatua, Te Awamutu, Otorohanga, King Country and then Ray Moss now has his own livestock company based out
Hamilton areas, an opportunity came up that he couldn’t resist. of Feilding.
“In 2011, there was a job advertised within the company when “He was a great fella to work with; he always had time for the
Bruce Orr was thinking about retiring, and I worked with him for younger agents, where some of the stud stock agents back in the
five or six years. It was a good start to be introduced to people by day were moleskins and 1000-acre-jacket-type blokes. I did two
Bruce, who has a huge amount of respect in the industry.” or maybe three years being a gofer for him at the national sale.”
Seeing the national sale in its heyday in the late 80s/early
“HE’S GOT COLOUR, COSMETICS AND CARCASS. 90s was a highlight for Cam.
HE TICKS ALL THE BOXES.” “They were fantastic, with huge lines of cattle. We used to
have to weigh and brand the cattle on the morning they came
Learning to be an auctioneer usually involves being thrown in. It was nothing to weigh cattle at 1000kg. There were huge
in the deep end. benches of buyers and rows and rows of led, haltered cattle…
“If you’re lucky you’ll be told the day before that you’re very, very different.”
selling. Most guys who have a bent for it will have already been
mucking around with how to do it. Then you get the big chance “NICE SPREAD OF DATA AS YOU MAKE YOUR
and most of us blow it and feel like an idiot,” he says, laughing. WAY ACROSS THE PAGE. WONDERFUL GROWTH
“But really, I’ve found, when you get those young guys into a pen AND FERTILITY. WHAT A NICE PACKAGE.”
and selling, whether it be sheep or cattle, buyers tend to treat them
pretty well. They don’t take the mickey so it really starts from there. Then there was the sale of Atahua Legacy for $155,000.
New auctioneers just need someone to say, ‘here, have a go’.” “I missed that one, but he’s a bull the industry still talks
about today. Another of my highlights was in 2018 selling a
“THERE’S EXCEPTIONAL DEPTH THROUGH bull for Ian Borck of Springdale Angus for $62,000. That’s the
THE PEDIGREE HERE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. highest priced bull I’ve sold.
“My ultimate goal was to sell at Expo, which I did, that must
YOU JUST KNOW YOU WANT TO TAKE THIS have been the last year before they left Manfeild Park. Another
ONE HOME.” recent highlight was selling at the Hereford National Sale in 2018.
I did the North Island bulls and John Macone did the South Island
bulls for PGG Wrightson, and Neville Clark did everyone else’s.”
He says it’s great to sell at the prestigious sales, such as
Koanui, but he also enjoys going to the smaller studs without the
bigger profile. “It’s their big day as well... like the Wards up on the
Coromandel at Kairaumati, Cam Gerard at Te Puna in Northland,
or the Shepherds at Moana. They don’t get the notoriety of the

THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE, TOP LEFT: Auctioneer Cam Heggie in full
flight at Koanui Polled Herefords alongside commercial agent Matt
Harvey, left, and Simon Smith from PGGW Genetics Hawke’s Bay;
Cam Heggie with David and Sue Henderson, Craigmore Herefords;
A new sire bull for Kokonga - Cam talks with breeder Pip Robinson.
18