A north Victorian stalwart of the Australian Angus breed has been recognised in the King's Birthday honours list for his passion for agriculture and his community service.
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The founder of the Merrigrange Angus stud Phil Collins, Lockington, was among a number of rural Victorians awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).
Mr Collins, 95, was awarded the OAM for services to primary industry and the community.
A former chair of the Victorian branch of the Australian Angus Society and a member for 54 years, he set up Merrigrange with his wife Gwen in 1958.
He said he bought "a cow with a brown calf" at the Kyneton saleyards.
"I had no idea what the breeding of the calf was," he said.
"Anyway, it turned out to be a black calf and I naturally found out it was an Angus.
"I told Gwen, on the results of that calf, I am going to buy an Angus bull - I did - and the bugger left me five Friesian calves, so he wasn't pure bred.
"Even me house cow had a Friesian calf."
Even me house cow had a Friesian calf.
- Phillip Collins, OAM, Lockington Angus breeder
But that didn't put Mr Collins off, as he'd decided to set up his own stud.
"I thought the calf done so well, I bought seven heifers and a cow and calf to start my stud," he said.
The cow and calf started off the Vicky family line, one of Australia's prominent Angus bloodlines, "and it is still going," he said.
Mr Collins saw the potential of the breed, when it wasn't as popular as it is today, saying the "kill" qualities of the breed drove its appeal.
"In those days, it was Hereford, Hereford, Hereford," he said.
Mr Collins paid tribute to Gwen and sons Peter, Noel, Graham and Daryl and daughter Jennifer, who helped propel the stud to show circuit success.
"They have been very good - my wife was outside, more than she was inside," he said.
"We used to show at Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne each year and at 32 shows in a row we were the most successful Angus exhibitor," Mr Collins said.
At one stage, Mr and Mrs Collins went to a World Angus Forum in Canada.
"While we were over there, we drifted into America," he said.
"Our annual show at Wodonga was nearly always judged by an American, so we knew the people before we got there," he said.
They bought a bull in America, from O'Neill Angus, Logan, Iowa as he felt the cattle they had started with were "too small".
"The bull I bought in America put some size into them," he said.
It was important to be involved in breed societies, "because you are making decisions for the future - I like to be in that," he said.
"Growing the breed was the direction I was most involved in.
"I don't think it can go much higher, the breed is at a good point as its ever been at the moment.
"But they need to keep breeding the way are going, just keep a watch on their feet - I am very strong on that."
He said he was "extremely honoured" to receive the OAM.
"I have no idea who dobbed me in, but someone did, obviously."
Son Peter, principal of Merridale Angus, Tennyson, said his father also ran pig and sheep studs and was "passionate" about breeding.
It didn't matter what type of animal it was, as Mr Collins senior had both pig and sheep studs.
"To this day, he doesn't care what sort of animal it is, it's not just about Angus, it's all about breeding good stock," Peter Collins said.
"That's what he's done, all his life.
"The five of us kids are enormously proud of what he has done."
The only disappointment was that their mother Gwen, who died about 10 years, ago, was not there to see Mr Collins awarded the OAM.
Mr Collins is also a life member of the Royal Agricultural Show Society and has been involved in Lockington Community Care, the town's Lions Club, Tennyson fire brigade and the Lockington football club.
In other honours, Yerong Creek's Ross Edwards was recognised with an OAM for nearly six decades of service to the Henty Machinery Field Days. Camperdown's Bernie Sinnott was recognised for five decades of service to the CFA, as was Robert Dean, with the Red Cliffs brigade for more than four decades.
They were awarded the OAM, as was Rural Councils Victoria (RCV) president Mary Anne Brown, Dunkeld.
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
