CHB 'Trailblazers' to host 29th Simmental cattle sale

Tony Thompson from GlenAnthony Simmental Stud in Waipukurau with one his bulls up for sale next month.

Tony and Glennis Thompson could be considered trailblazers back in the 1970s when they moved to CHB to establish GlenAnthony Simmental Stud — firmly in the heart of Angus cattle country.

The couple had been travelling through Europe in the late 1960s when they first saw Simmental cattle in Switzerland, Austria and Bavaria.

They registered the GlenAnthony Simmental herd in 1973 while they were farmers in the Waikato, where Tony had also begun his career as a vet. In 1974 moved to Farm Rd in Waipukurau where Herd 299 was founded with a handful of crossbred cows and one imported purebred cow, Woolston's Fasan.

Tony, who had joined a local CHB veterinary practice, said he and his wife at first wondered if they had made the right decision to bring the exotic breed to CHB.

"Angus has a great tradition in CHB — the Angus studs were here well before we came along," he said.

"We were a little worried when we first came here to CHB — here we are with a different breed and here I am a veterinary surgeon. I thought "I am going to get run out of town here".

"But the Angus breeders accepted me and were happy to keep me as their vet surgeon — we all got on pretty well."

Though his larger Simmentals were not as well suited to the tougher hill country — an area where Angus cattle have a very good reputation, according to Tony — the couple found a good market for their bulls in CHB from early on.

"We've been selling for a bit over 30 years and this will be our 29th on-farm bull sale," Tony said.

"I don't think you could call us trailblazers any more — we've just stuck around.
"We have downsized over the years … we have around 90ha now and have 70 breeding cows and each year we sell about 15 bulls.

"And last year was one of our best [sales] and we averaged over $5000, which is pretty good for us.

"We have a group of loyal clientele that are happy to buy our bulls, so we've been well supported over the years."

Much like his decision to breed exotic Simmentals in CHB, Tony revealed he did not fully subscribe to today's conventional wisdom, where buyers placed most of their faith in EBVs (estimated breeding values) to decide what makes for a good bull.

"It's a bit like the old fable of the Emperor's New Clothes — no-one wants to speak out against them.

"I don't think you can judge a good bull on sight alone — you have to still look at a stud and its reputation.

But EBVs are just selling tools," he said.

GlenAnthony Simmentals bull sale is on Friday June 8 at 12.30pm.