CRAIG Montgomery could never have been accused of failing to stop and smell the roses.
The longtime studstock representative for The Land was as passionate about gardening – in particular his prized roses – as he was about livestock and was known to return from trips with a carload of cuttings.
Mr Montgomery, who retired after 25 years with The Land in 2010, died in Sydney last week after a long battle with illness.
While Hornsby raised, Mr Montgomery knew early on his future lay in agriculture – his interest piqued by a grandfather who had worked as a butter maker for Norco and a cousin who was a stock and station agent.
He joined The Land in 1985 as a studstock representative at Armidale, after stints with Winchcombe Carsons, Dalgety and Co and Elders.
For a man who loved the livestock industry and loved talking to people, there could hardly have been a better fit for a job.
The Land’s general manager John Dwyer said Mr Montgomery was an integral member of the paper’s studstock team for a quarter of a century.
“And he had a bit of larrikin in him, he had a real passion for the livestock game and the people involved in it,” Mr Dwyer said.
“Craig would travel miles to sell an advertisement. He was taught and believed in old-fashioned service and continued down this path even with the advent of new technology.”
Former general manager and studstock manager of The Land, Mike Harvey, said Mr Montgomery was always full of enthusiasm and remembers him as a skilled salesman who loved to sell big ads.
“There used to be some supermodel who wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000, and Craig would tell you he wouldn’t get out of bed for less than a quarter page.
“But he would do anything for his clients.”
The Land studstock manager Brett Tindal, who credits Mr Montgomery with teaching him much of what he knows, said he’d been a great friend and mentor.
“He had an uncanny knack of being able to get an ad twice the size of everyone else and we never knew how he did it. I think it was just his confidence to have a crack.”
Colleagues this week spoke of his commitment to his clients and genuine interest in their breeding programs.
Young journalists heading out to do a story on one of his clients were always told “they’re great people, really nice people” – because that’s what he believed.
Retired studstock auctioneer Tony Dowe said Mr Montgomery’s enthusiasm for his work never faded and described him as an excellent judge of cattle.
He remembers Mr Montgomery’s pride when a bull from his small Goose Creek Hereford stud made $10,000 at the Glen Innes sale – the proceeds of which were mainly spent celebrating the result with friends at the pub that night.
A Hereford man through and through, he was equally as proud at winning a reserve champion ribbon for his Goose Creek stud at Sydney Royal.
The bull had been bred from an embryo from a cow he’d bought from Jones Hereford Ranches in Canada and was shown by longtime friend, David Templeton, now of RH Cattle Company.
Mr Templeton said he was also an avid – and highly skilled – gardener.
“He loved his gardens – he’d often turn up and have a carload of cuttings for his garden in the back.”
In a story in The Land about his garden in 2008, Mr Montgomery noted the parallels between breeding livestock and perfecting his garden.
“It’s all about finding the right genetics or working within the right families to suit location or climate.”
His main frustration with gardening, in fact, would be fitting everything he loved in.
“You know your garden is full when you find a plant you just have to have, but realise you have nowhere to put it,” he said at the time.
Many spoke of his sense of humour – and the endless stream of jokes he would fire through on email, many of which were best read alone.
Colleagues remember him ending – and starting – many a phone call with: “Hey, I’ve got a joke for you”.
Elders studstock agent Paul Dooley, who first met Mr Montgomery during his time at Elders, said his sense of humour would long be remembered.
Mr Dooley remembers his excitement as a young agent that had just left head office for a new post at Cootamundra being advised by Craig he would soon be getting a company car and it would be arriving that Friday.
It arrived as promised – though the red Matchbox car wasn’t quite what he had in mind.
“We were always good mates – and if you were friends with Craig, you were friends for life,” Mr Dooley said.
Mr Dooley said while Mr Montgomery had battled health issues for a long time, in his later months he had downplayed its seriousness.
“I don’t think any of us realised just how big a ticker Craig had.”
He is survived by his wife Donna, and her sons, Sam and Brock, his parents, Hunter and June, and his brother, Stuart.
His funeral will be held this Friday at Piddington’s Crematorium Chapel in Armidale at 2pm.
