The variety of people, places and country is what Scott Thrift finds most attractive in his position as Elders stud stock and sheep sales specialist for NSW and southern QLD.
Based in Dubbo, Mr Thrift had been assessing a mob of sheep at Carinda on the Thursday, and early on Friday morning he was driving through Bathurst on his way to a Merino ram sale near Crookwell, where The Land caught up with him.
During the past twelve months and in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, his clients needs were met with Mr Thrift travelling some 130,000km across NSW and into Queensland.
"It is the people and the places I go to which I find very rewarding," he said when reflecting upon his interesting job.
"I am doing something different every day - classing sheep, assessing sheep for sale and Auctions Plus, sourcing sheep for clients, selecting rams for my client's or into other states of Australia, or looking for agistment - it is all a critical part of the service I provide as a member of the Elders team."
Mr Thrift has also been involved in the export of breeding genetics into China and Inner Mongolia, but his main focus is on the many loyal clients he has across various pastoral districts of Australia.
"It comes down to trust and providing the right article," he said.
"You are only as good as your last job, but if you provide the service, clients will stick with you.
Mr Thrift grew up in Manilla, in northern NSW and attended the Manilla Central School until he left in 1984 and moved straight into the sheep and wool industry wool classing, shearing and owned contract sheep dipping business covering North West NSW, New England and Southern Queensland.
I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing the business of my clients grow and succeed. I get excited as much as the clients do in achieving high wool prices or great sheep sales.
- Scott Thrift, stud stock and sheep specialist with Elders, Dubbo.
His association with sheep was therefore a natural progression.
"I have always been around sheep, and when I completed a wool classing course in 1984, I was wool classing in the industry for 24 years," he said.
"I started with Elders in 2005 at Elders in Warwick in Queensland looking after clients in the Traprock area where they ran wethers which I sourced from St George, Cunnamulla, North West NSW and the New England region.
Through those connections Mr Thrift developed a network which he services from Dubbo where he has been based for the past 10 years.
As a sheep classer of commercial Merino flocks, he is the key account manager for many family and corporate business clients.
"I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing the business of my clients grow and succeed," Mr Thrift said.
"I get excited as much as the clients do in achieving high wool prices or great sheep sales or the ability to source and truck stock long distances to meet client's requirements."
Among his highlights, he has purchased and trucked over 60,000 sheep from WA in the last 12 months and sold numerous other lines of ewes and wether lambs for clients for some of the best money they have ever received.
"I was also involved in the purchase of the top priced ram at Roseville Park for $22,000 on behalf of Rodger Glover, Mallibee stud, WA and I sold 740 young ewes for $350 in the paddock for a Wellington client to a return buyer," Mr Thrift said.
He has knowledge of many hotel rooms and cafes and said his favourite place to stay is the Thunderbird Motel in Yass or Outback Resort in Lighting Ridge.
"My favourite café/bakery is the Bake House in Forbes and the Superb Bakery Boorowa, just to name a couple, while my favourite holiday spot is in Mooloolaba, which is where I will be when I am reading The Land."
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