Knowla Raises $40,000 for the Angus Foundation
In an act of great generosity by both vendor and purchaser, an amazing $40,000 was raised for the Angus Foundation at the recent Knowla Livestock Sale, hosted Friday July 28th. The donation, raised from the proceeds from the auction of a heifer at sale, will go directly to funding scholarships, awards and bursaries to support the ongoing development of young emerging members of Australian beef industry and the Angus breed.
Pledging the proceeds from the sale of Knowla Kruger T12PV (BLA22T12), the Laurie Family knew that the heifer they were selling was something special, committing an animal they knew would have an impact on any herd she would enter.
Purchased by Cooper Clarke of Northwest Pastoral Angus, Scone, and his father Shane for Cooper’s recently developed seedstock operation, the heifer was a standout for the pair, with the contribution to the Angus Foundation through their purchase a bonus in their eyes.
“Her numbers were outstanding EBVs wise, she was a very feminine heifer and I reckon she’ll grow into something nice,” said Cooper.
“With the money for the purchase going to a good cause, making opportunities potentially for me in the future going down the path with Angus, it’s something I really look forward to in the future and it builds our operation at home.”
Return buyers to Knowla, the Clarke’s have plans for their new purchase and will look utilise the heifer to expand their cattle operation into the future.
“We’ll wait until she calves and will then probably send her down to Holbrook to get her flushed and get embryos in the tank. We will then see what bulls would be best for her matchings and go from there,” said Cooper.
Knowla Livestock Co-Principal James Laurie was happy to see a heifer the family held in high regard go to an operation with a young person at the helm, highlighting that creating opportunity for young people in the industry was the driving objective for their donation.
“We think she’s a really special heifer, and if we weren’t donating for the Foundation, we wouldn’t have given her away. However, we just thought if we are going to do it, we’re going to do it properly,” he said.
“We are just delighted that she is going to Cooper and his father Shane, with only a newly established stud and now they’ve got access to some of our top genetics. We’re going to love working with them and watching as she performs, and we’re just delighted that she’s gone to a small established stud that can really utilise her to get their program going.”
James continued, “It’s great that Cooper’s been driving Northwest Pastoral and while I know his father might be paying the bills at the moment, Coop is driving it and it’s really good to get a young guy establishing a stud, getting a really top heifer and knowing that he might get the opportunity to take advantage of some of the bursaries or scholarships in a year or two. It’s a win-win, I think.”
For Angus Australia Extension Manager Jake Phillips, the donation was one that held great promise for the continuation of providing excellent and industry leading opportunity for young people in the industry.
“We would like to thank the Laurie Family greatly for their tremendous support for our program. This donation will go far in the way of continuing the various initiatives that the Angus Foundation has in place, as well as helping us to continue to establish new ways to support the young people in our industry.”
“Without incredibly generous contributions like this one, we simply would not be able to do what we do through the Angus Foundation. The support shown through these contributions directly impacts the opportunities we can provide the young and emerging members of our great industry.”
The Angus Foundation provides a mechanism for members and other beef industry stakeholders to support youth development, education and research programs conducted by Angus Australia.
These programs are designed to encourage and assist the involvement of young people in the Australian beef industry, to provide professional development opportunities for young beef breeders, and to assist in conducting research, development and educational programs for the benefit of Angus breeders and the wider Australian beef industry.
Someone with a deep understanding of the impact opportunities provided through the Angus Foundation and its benefactors was Angus Australia President and Board Chairperson Erica Halliday, who herself was is a product of the Angus Youth program and a beneficiary of scholarship opportunities afforded through the program.
“This has been a very generous offer from the Laurie family of Knowla and comes straight off the back of them purchasing the Dulverton Angus Foundation heifer, donated by the Chappell family, for $16,000 alongside Jason Strong.” Read more about this here.
“The reason that they are donating to the Foundation is for Angus Youth and for all the programs and the scholarships, awards and bursaries that they conduct every year. People like Greg Chappell, Jason Strong and myself have all been part of those programs.”
Touching on the reach and impact of the opportunities provided through the Angus Foundation, Erica continued, “At the ‘Beyond the Beef’ Zoetis Angus National Conference earlier this year, we actually had a panel of both people that had won scholarships, awards and bursaries in the past or been a part of Angus Youth and it was mind blowing. They were the most creative, inspirational young people and this is what we’re raising the money for, to get young people back into the beef industry and keep doing all the great things that they’re doing.”
Feature image: Brian Kennedy, Elders Stud Stock, Dubbo, Cooper Clark, Jack and Georgie Laurie Knowla Angus, Allan Laurie and Paul Dooley.
