Record sales, historic studs, Dairy united, Farmers Watching Farmers Wanting Wives, and more in 2022

The change of role, combined with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, saw me leave my home office for the first time in almost three years.

Apart from a brief stint at Sydney Royal in 2021, it felt as though (like a lot of others) I had been bolted to my desk.

While I haven't covered nearly as much ground as some of my colleagues, hitting the open roads brought a welcome change of scenery.

Since June, I have covered several spring bull and ram sales, which was a new experience for me.

While I had spent much of my time at saleyards over the years, I had never attended these on-property auctions.

When I started with this company nine years ago, I was employed as the weekend photographer, attending social events on the south coast. It felt great picking up the camera again, meeting new people, and reconnecting with old friends.

There is simply no substitute for face-to-face interaction.

One of several sales I attended was at Circle 8, Marulan, where the Cooper family offered the entire S drop of their heifer line at its 30th anniversary bull and female sale.

The unique offering had buyers clambering to purchase their sought-after genetics.

It was exciting to witness the stud break the Australian Angus breed record average for registered females at $20,950 and set a new benchmark for the highest price paid for an unjoined Angus yearling heifer sold at auction.

Robert Mackenzie, Mackas Angus, Salt Ash secured the top-priced heifer for a whopping $140,000.

It is worth mentioning that the Cooper family put on quite the event for their valued clients, with fresh oysters, mouth-watering slow-cooked brisket and refreshments on offer.

The tasty spread is just an extension of principal Jeremy Cooper's passion for breeding top-quality Angus cattle and delivering an unmatched service to his customers.

A two-day adventure to Cooma saw me attend the Hazeldean and Greendale Merino ram sales.

As many of you would be aware, Hazeldean is steeped in history.

Hazeldean was settled in the early 1860s by James Litchfield, who emigrated from Essex, England, to Australia.

He foundered the Hazeldean Merino stud in 1865 by purchasing a draft of pure imported Rambouillet Merinos.

Managing director Jim Litchfield is the fifth generation in the family to run the Merino and Angus breeding operations. Together with his eldest daughter Bea Litchfield, they continue the tradition of breeding top-quality sheep and cattle.

I particularly enjoyed wandering around the shearing shed and soaking up the property's history.

I was lucky to be introduced to Howard Charles by a mutual friend Geoff Cochrane.

Mr Charles is a trustee of Coolringdon, west of Cooma, another property with deep roots in the pastoral history of the Monaro. He and his wife Anne invited us to their home, where I heard so much about the district's past.

Again, this meeting highlighted the importance of having a "boots on the ground" perspective.

I would never have been treated to such a remarkable oral history sitting at my desk.

A last minute trip north for me was yet another thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding trip.

I attended the Dairy Research Foundation Symposium at Forster in November.

Again, people were thrilled to be out and about in each other's company again.

With the theme, Unlocking Potential, day one encompassed a full agenda of presentations about the critical topics impacting the industry.

About 150 attendees heard from guest speakers on topics, including farming intensification, managing climate risks and emerging dairy beef markets.

Day two saw attendees travel about an hour to visit Manning Valley Dairy, owned and operated by the Scowen family at Wingham.

Three stations were set up around the property, where speakers presented information on pasture management and, remote feeding, dairy system intensification and attendees heard about the farm's Wagyu dairy beef program.

I was fortunate to be part of an award-winning team at this year's ACM Excellence Awards.

Ashley Walmsley, Julia Wythes and I took out the Audience Engagement Award with our series of articles: Farmers Watching Farmers Wanting Wives.

The articles offer our readers humorous commentary on the very popular television program Farmer Wants A Wife Australia.

While we don't do our jobs for the accolades, receiving recognition for our work was immensely satisfying.

I am truly blessed to work alongside a team of passionate journalists.

Like many colleagues, I look forward to spending Christmas and New Year with my family, friends, dogs and horses, visiting the beach and knocking back a few sundowners. I hope you all have a wonderful time with your loved ones also.

In 2023, I look forward to meeting more of you as I take to the open roads in my area, the south coast, and further afield.