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UPTAKE's week of Bull

Thursday 15 June 2017, 3:47PM

By Media PA

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Filing into the stock yard stands, with my UPTAKE beanie on and my hands frozen from that bloody cold, damp Masterton winter – John and I eyed up a good seat.

Dandaloo Stud was the first bull sale of the week for us and not to mention my first too.

I didn’t really know what to expect – I’d been to a few calf sales with dad when I was in size 4 red-bands but there were a few more ounces of excitement now as Angus Thomson entered the ring.

I was quite surprised to see him inside the ring with nothing but a pole in hand and one to scoot behind if needed. In my mind’s eye, these black beasts look like the type of thing that lurk in the shadows of your dreams.

The gates opened and in they came, a magnificent presence of pure Angus – structurally sound and the look of ‘WTF am I doing in here?’. “And what the hell is that guy mumbling on about at the top of his lungs!’, flashing in his black beady eyes.

I soon understood how docile these big boys are and for first-timers in the rink they modelled the traits of pedigree Angus, brilliantly.

Angus continued his dance with his 2-year-old angus bulls and with a few nods, winks and finger waves chased by numbers ending in ,000 and repeated 30 odd times later, no sooner had it started, we found ourselves climbing upstairs to be graced with an amazing spread of paddock to pattie prime angus burgers. They were delicious!

The next sale was Mark McKenzie’s at Maungahina – Herefords, Charolais and Speckle Park bulls were on the menu here today. I quickly scoped out his, quick escape exit points and this time we had front row seats.

Mark explained that the progeny he has bred have up to 75 percent of its sire’s DNA and 25% of the dam’s, contributing to a genetic purity in the bulls we would see here today.

Mr Hereford stepped in first and pirouetted (very gracefully for a bull, I might add) to find the gate had just closed behind him, in doing so showing off all his good sides. He then looked straight at me, his big white face within reach, eyeballing me through the ribs of the bars. With his curly locks, docility and longevity all wrapped up under his red coat he could give Kenny G a good run for his money!

Next came the Charolais bulls – the neck on these guys is all muscle – come to think of it not much else about them wasn’t muscle. Half time seemed to be announced by a pen of Speckle Park girls doing their cheerleading routine in and around each other, opening for their fathers to lead on with the second half. These guys are on trend. One of our UPTAKE clients, Wendy Hume, took out all her competitors for the pick of the lot at $24,000 – I managed to get a good video of the action and have uploaded it to Taupo-based UPTAKE’s Facebook page, please check it out.

The embryos and sperm were the delicacy of the day in which most of the Australian attendees popped in their hand luggage. 

Last on our list was the Te Whanga Angus Bull Sale where our mate Scott Gudsell was in dancing with a tonne of meat and pure Angus Stud. Sitting on the podium of hay bales, John and I sat in line with the opening gate which turned out a good spot as we could see the squareness and roundness square on as they came in (if that makes sense). All the kids in the front row, each with their wee red-bands sticking out all went “Ooooooh” as he entered the ring.

With thundering hearts and nostrils blaring, these Angus bulls looked glorious in their coat of shining black armor, bursting at the seams with potential and the finest of progeny on offer.

More bidding babbling of numbers and a quote from the auctioneer “You can’t do it all yourself boys!” and with that, the boys in black kept on going out the door and into the truck.

As a nervous spectator trying to hide my hands, as well as warm them, any accidental hair tuck or nose pick could potentially land you with a $8k bid or a glare from the auctioneer as Miss Charlie Darling and I were chuckling about after the sale with one of the bid callers exclaiming:  “You bid on about 60% of those bulls Charlie, with hair flicks and absent-minded hand gestures…with her father, Andy Darling, securing the  top bid and taking a prime home with them.

With yet another lunch of UPTAKE meat in my burger and now wearing size 8 red-bands, I’m beginning to really see what John has been harping on about – good nutrition leads to bloody good tasting meat!

Written by Emm, Emm for Mandy – UPTAKE’s newest kid on the block.

 

Contact UPTAKE:

Phone: 07 378 2604

Email: info@uptake.co.nz

Website: www.uptake.co.nz

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UptakeFertiliser/?fref=ts

 

Contact MediaPA:

Phone: 0274 587 724

Email: phillip@mediapa.co.nz

Website: www.mediapa.co.nz

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