Why a Whanganui based sheep and beef representative with a shearing background enjoys the farming variety of his home region.

Whanganui raised, Jimmy McDonald grew up on a lifestyle block, which gave him all the motivation necessary to opt for a career on the land. Jimmy has been a Whanganui based PGG Wrightson sheep and beef representative since January 2024.

After finishing school, he went to study for a Certificate in Agriculture at Telford, then worked as a shearer for five years, both in Western Australia and locally. Local conditions mean there is always a dry sheep to shear somewhere.

“I never had to shear a wet sheep. In this district, if it’s raining somewhere, you can always drive half an hour out of the rain and find a dry sheep to shear. We never ran run of work,” he says.

While he’s now a livestock representative, that variety of different country remains a major feature of Jimmy’s job.

“We have early country and late country. You can drive from the sea to the mountains within an hour. In some parts of the region we have lambs being born now, while elsewhere farmers are still putting their rams out, all within 45 minutes of each other. In terms of the climate, that means plenty of variety, which influences how you farm.

“Many of the farmers we work with have more than one farm: one up in the hills, one down the bottom on the coast. If so, chances are they will always grow grass in one location or the other.

“That also means when you buy and sell livestock, instead of it being seasonal, we are active year-round. Through the next couple of months Taihape will be quiet, though Whanganui not. Farmers round there are finishing last year’s lambs now. It’s the same as when I was shearing, we don’t run out of work.”

On the back of a positive market for red meat, Jimmy noticed this year’s successful bull sale season was a sharp contrast to the previous one.

“Last year everyone was on edge with money. Now, with a return in their pockets, they have been able to spend more on bulls. It’s a domino effect. Since lamb prices are also doing well, I’m looking forward to the next ram sales. They will probably increase as well. Following on from big lambs selling for $250 each, we should see farmers spending more money on rams this year as a result.”

Still at the early stages of his career, working alongside a number of far more experienced livestock reps, Jimmy expects to be in the business for several more decades himself, and will no doubt see a few changes.

“bidr is already changing the way farmers buy and sell livestock, and you have to expect more online activity in future, plus massively more use of technology in general,” he says.

Hunting and fishing keep Jimmy busy outside work, plus rugby. He joined Counties RFC this year, playing in the loose forwards, his arrival coinciding with a rare purple patch for the Kaiwhaiki based green and blacks when they recently made the semifinals for the first time in nine years.

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