2011 - 2012 Season
HAWKES BAY A & P SHOW - HASTINGS 2011.
With Bruce Tomlinson’s agreement we brought Glen Anthony Waterford back home and included him in our show team. What a magnificent sight - Waterford and Westerley in the ring together. Westerley long and smooth, Waterford powerful, and strong. Both showing great thickness throughout and massive hind quarter development.
In Hastings sadly, the Simmental cattle were the only breed to turn up - Sue Wyley, Bruce Tomlinson, and Glen Anthony. The cattle did us all proud. A great line up of yearling bulls and heifers and the spectacle of two mature bulls. For the record Waterford won the Meat and Wool Cup.
A highlight of the show was the involvement of the young handlers to help display our cattle, especially Nancy Crawshaw all the way from an Angus stud north of Wairoa. Nancy was a breath of fresh air and soon got to know our cattle and their breeding. She really kept Amy and Max on their toes and was a joy to have stay at home for a few days leading up to the show.
A special thank you also to Kimberley and Mark. Kimberley is so keen and able and takes some of her annual holidays to be at the shows with us. Her husband Mark is the power behind the ‘glamour’. He keeps the stalls clean and spends early mornings carting away soiled bedding and replacing it with barrow loads of fresh sawdust. It is his work that enables us to keep our cattle clean throughout each show. If we are short of a leader, Mark shows his versatility by getting changed into show gear and taking his place in the ring. Mark and Kimberley’s son Bradley at age seven is showing an interest in helping his dad and leading for granddad one day.
NEW ZEALAND ROYAL SHOW - HAMILTON 29th OCT, 2011
Along with Sue Wyley’s two outstanding yearlings and Waterford, Glen Anthony took a large team of cattle led by Westerley and including three yearling heifers, three yearling bulls, and five cows and calves.
Again Waterford and Westerley made a great spectacle in the ring together. Waterford was judged Supreme Champion Simmental and went on to initially tie for first place in the Meat and Wool Cup only to be relegated to second on a count back.
Sue Wyley’s outstanding yearling bull won the Interbreed Class and went on to win the Junior Meat and Wool Cup. Ratalea Yukon is an excellent example of the Rupert/Yardstick cross. He is out of Sue's excellent Yardstick show cow and shows all the carcass characteristics of his sire Haylands Rupert plus extra frame size and length. Glen Anthony had to settle for only one Interbreed Championship with Yvette winning the Yearling Heifer Competition.
Again the highlight of the show was the great team of people that worked together to prepare the stalls and keep them clean and to wash, prepare and show the cattle. Mark and Kimberley, Sue Wyley, Amy Hoogenboom, Max Tweedie, and both Nancy and Patrick Crawshaw.
Well done and thanks everybody.
FEILDING BEST OF BEEF MARCH 2012
Waterford went back to mating duties at Papakuri Stn and so we set off to Feilding with our regular show team plus Y-arta (Wai Ata), some newly broken in calves and three very green 600kg plus steers. We welcomed Amy’s younger sister Rachel to the team and are very thankful for Rhys Tidwell’s assistance on the Thursday and Friday prior to Mark and Kimberley and family arriving for the weekend.
Westerley gained the upper hand at this show. Firstly he managed to turn the tables on Wai arta in the Senior Bull Class (2 year old and older). Then he headed off very strong opposition including Sue’s Champion yearling bull and the excellent two year old Gelbvieh cow from Raglan to win the Meat and Wool Cup. (See photo front cover).
The fun of the show was the challenge to get the steers successfully into the ring. They clung together like scared rabbits but in the end did a creditable job with the Simmental Gelbvieh cross steer lead by Kimberley winning the day.
AUCKLAND EASTER SHOW 2012
A change of status and a change of venue.
For this year, the Auckland Easter Show has lost its Royal status for reasons unknown to us. Along with changes to the executive of the Auckland A & P Assoc, there were changes to the venue with all cattle moving from Pavilion 6 on Greenlane Road to Pavilion 1 and 2 in the main building. This is close to the main gate and as such cattle became the first exhibit for the public to view on entering the grounds.
There was plenty of room for unloading and plenty of room for the stalls. Kevin Isaacson once again took a truck and trailer load of cattle up for us and the Glen Anthony truck took up the balance. Mark and Kimberley and family as usual arrived early and had the stalls set up by the time the trucks arrived. This year Nancy Crawshaw replaced Max Tweedie on the team which also included Amy and Sue.
Wai arta defeated Westerley in the Senior Simmental Bull class but it was a 6 year old Yardstick sired female with a 470kg bull calf at foot that won through. It was just Toffee Pop’s day! She won the Senior Simmental Cow class, The Supreme Champion Simmental award and went on to win the Interbreed Senior Cow Challenge against a very strong field. (See picture back cover).
Sue’s yearling bull was all class. He won the Interbreed Yearling Bull Championship by five out of six judges giving him first place and went on to be a very creditable second to the excellent 3 year old Hereford bull, ‘Awhea Immense’ in the Meat and Wool Cup. One of the features of this Easter show, like the NZ Royal in Hamilton and several A & P shows in the South Island this season, has been the resurgence of the Hereford breed in quality and in numbers entered. A new challenge to keep us old show hands on our toes.
FUTURE BEEF NZ HOOF AND HOOKS 2012
Amy Hoogenboom and her younger sister Rachel have been regular visitors to the stud since February both after school and during the weekends and school holidays putting lots of time into handling and training three Simmental steers for this year’s Future Beef Competition.
This year, Max Tweedie and his sister Ella decided to enter Angus steers.
They handled and trained them before coming to Glen Anthony a few days prior to the event to add some finishing touches.
As well as entering these steers Glen Anthony also supplied four weaner heifers for the judging module. The weekend of the competition 12th and 13th May was a very busy time for all concerned with scanning, weighing, washing, clipping and daily preparation of the sawdust stall area. The steers behaved pretty well and competed in the ‘On the Hoof’ carcass judging on the Saturday and the Handler judging on the Sunday.
It was a great thrill to see the two purebred Simmental steers line up first and second in the heavyweight division and then follow up on the Sunday with young Rachel gaining second place in her Handler’s class and Amy winning the Intermediate Open section. Max Tweedie won the Senior Handler’s competition and went on to repeat last year’s win as Overall Champion Handler. Later at the prize giving he was announced the Winner of the Senior Beef Ambassadors prize and Amy won the Intermediate Beef Ambassadors prize. Congratulations to them both.
It is really great to be not only associated with Max and Amy but also with Nancy Crawshaw. These are young people who have fully deserved their success in these events, through sheer hard work and an undying passion for working with stud cattle.
Sadly, this years steers did not come through for us ‘On the Hooks.’ They failed to register in the top four for actual carcass quality and so had to be content with their success ‘On the Hoof’. Nevertheless they killed out an average of 56% and graded P1. With carcass weights from 360 to 386kg they returned an average price of $1350 each.