| 27 Linking seller and buyer the name of the game Sue Russell RURAL PEOPLE » Link Livestock: Stew Cruikshank Stew Cruickshank, a sales agent at Link Livestock, is based in Te Aroha and until 15 years ago was in the business of sharemilking. He lives on a dairy unit which also serves as his office base. He’s been with Link Livestock for one year, though the business itself has rebranded since forming in the 1990s and owned by Jersey NZ. “Given this history a lot of the original stock sales staff were very familiar with the Jersey breed. Now Link Livestock offers a raft of services across all stock breeds,” Stew explains. In the past year three agents have joined, with five concentrating on the Waikato and King Country districts with one based in Northland. Stew says as soon as business conditions enable, Link Livestock will also position staff in Taranaki. The business has grown by engaging experienced stock agents to join, each already essentially running their own business and client base. Stew is senior agent, reporting to a board of three directors. More recently a business manager has been employed. “Our board are all very different people from each other but very intelligent, nice people with the same focus on the company.” On a day to day basis at its simplest, Link Livestock sale agents connect seller with buyer. This requires an innate understanding of where the stock sales market is at for all classes of animals. “We now deal with beef and dairy stock quite a bit. The beef, dairy and sheep markets are all fetching good prices in the export commodities sector. At the same time though this is being tempered by escalating costs,” Stew says. Being a relatively small company gives Link Livestock necessary agility to react and shift to strengths and weaknesses affecting the supply and purchasing of livestock, something Stew believes has enabled it to grow well, especially in the past three years or so. Technology has also changed how stock are sold and bought, with on-sale auctions or private treaty agreements carried on on-line. “We’ve got the experience that means we now have clients who we just buy stock for on behalf. They know we know what they’re after for their particular farming situation. That makes for a very efficient way of doing business.” Auctions are conducted on site and by remote bidding using Bidr and once a sale has occurred Link Livestock usually organises transport to their new home. A new bull leasing service ‘Link-a-bull’ provides farmers with the right bulls for servicing the herd. “We appraise and select bulls specifically for an individual herd and farm situation. We arrange the transport, leasing period. We know it is a well tested and very viable option.” Livestock Valuation and Insurance are two other services the business provides clients. Asked what qualities and capabilities make a great livestock sales agent Stew sums it up this way. “You have to have an innate sense of livestock and you can’t really teach that as such. There are a lot of ‘career’ agents and not all are from rural backgrounds.” Stew describes the current market as cautiously buoyant and there’s a mood that further company growth is just around the corner. At Jersey NZ we believe every farmer deserves the best cows; we believe that cow is Jersey • The Jersey cow out performs all breeds and cross breeds on a per hectare basis • The Jersey outperforms all others in terms of higher kg milksolids per kg liveweight • Most adaptable breed for Once a Day • Most sustainable of the common breeds producing 8% more when stocked to optimal stocking rates • Higher fat percentages • On average, highest fertility breeding values • Higher percentage of A2A2 animals PAEROA egional ransport 2020 td REGIONAL TRANSPORT • LIVESTOCK CARTAGE 021 790 296 rtlstock@gmail.com Link Livestock agent Stew Cruikshank says the current market remains ‘cautiously buoyant.’
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