Kem Ormond finds out what makes PGG Wrightson auctioneer Cam Heggie tick.
When I went looking to profile an auctioneer, there was Cam Heggie, in an oilskin coat and hat, a bushy moustache with a photo of Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp and his brothers on his work Facebook page.
I thought, “This will have to be an interesting auctioneer with a sense of humour” - and I wasn’t wrong!
An ex-Palmerston North High School boy, he met a lot of the boarders who had come from places like Taihape and Hunterville and thought they were a great bunch of guys. He decided he would like to work with such types and after finishing high school went off for a short stint as a farm cadet but decided that he wasn’t cut out to be a farmer.
In 1986 he moved to Dalgety Crown to set off on his pathway into the rural sector. Come 2010, that experience made him readily accept the position at PGG Wrightson as a livestock genetics representative and auctioneer for the northern North Island - a job tailor-made for a character like Cam, who appreciates livestock and enjoys people and travel.
His role is not to just turn up on the day to sell the livestock for the best price possible, his job is to become a part of each client’s business, guiding them through their breeding programmes, advising on and helping source the bulls and rams that farmers rely on.
It is this part of the job that Heggie finds extremely enjoyable and takes extremely seriously.
There is also a lot of satisfaction in being part of a small, tight-knit genetics team of approximately eight scattered throughout the country, with a great culture that Heggis enjoys being part of.
Challenges and changes
Some of the challenges Heggie has come across in the past years are the continuing change of land use through many of the districts and the declining numbers of breeding cows and ewes.
Cam Heggie works in a tight-knit team, which he says is very satisfying.
This is where building strong relationships with farmers becomes more and more important.
Reduced numbers mean some buyers have to travel up from further south, so making sure their trip is worthwhile is always on the auctioneer’s mind.
Being an auctioneer is a big responsibility because if the sale goes well, you have ended up contributing to making a large proportion of that farmer’s income for the year. You have to know what you are selling, understand your client and understand the buyers and how to move their interest.
There is a lot of responsibility in being an auctioneer.
The biggest changes Heggie has seen over the past years have been in technology, both as far as breeding cattle with DNA genomics and the like, and also the introduction of Bidr on PGG’s online selling platform, which has been integrated into the whole auction system.
A highlight of his career has been selling a New Zealand record bull at an on-farm sale for Turiroa Stud in Wairoa for $104,000 in 2020.
Another highlight is the people that he meets.
“Honest, hardworking, down-to-earth people who have a passion for the land and their animals,” he said.
This job has also given Heggie the chance to travel both the North and South Islands and see the scenery and sights many will never get the opportunity to see.
And when he is not auctioneering, Heggie can be found on his small block in Waikato with his wife Sara, busy planting natives or making stock and hiking sticks.
He is also a dab hand at passing the tray of sandwiches when he helps Sara out with her catering business.
