Te Akau Team Member of the Quarter

Te Akau is proud to congratulate our latest "Team Member of the Quarter" - Luke Copeland of Te Akau Stud - (pictured with his loyal farm dogs - Tough and George) -

“Luke Copeland has been working with me for 18 years now as my farm manager, and he is a true champion,” says David Ellis.

“He is always happy and nothing is ever a problem. If something needs to be done at 5am on a Sunday morning, Luke will get on with it, and with a smile on his face.”

“He has become a very close friend of mine and we are incredibly lucky to have Luke and his wife Melissa, and their two lovely children Savannah and Kade living on the farm with us.”

Luke ‘Whopper' Copeland:

It all began when my family moved into Te Akau when I was five years old. I'm just about a local now, I have been here in the area for 34 years and have been working at Te Akau Stud for 18 of them.

I was first met David through his children as I went to the local school with them and was good friends with his son Davey and I sometimes stayed at the farm house.  Later, a friend of mine who was working at the farm said they needed a hand with docking. I was studying Arbor-Culture and being the typical broke student, I thought a day's work would be a great idea - and I never left.

David offered me more work on the farm, which saw me grubbing thistles for four months and crutching sheep. Everybody knows the boss hates weeds and in particular - thistles. His famous quote is that “we need to have eyes like policemen” when it comes to them. Those who have worked on the farm know if you do not get blisters while grubbing, did you even grub a thistle at all?

Then David found out that I had horse experience, and by that, I mean I got my D Certificate in Pony Club and wore jodhpurs, so I guess that would make me a qualified horseman, right? I worked with the horses for just over six years. Sam Boyd, who worked at Te Akau for 34 years, was managing the stock and horses at the time. He took me under his wing and taught me a few things, like what to do and especially NOT what to do, and for that I am very grateful.

I have seen some fantastic horses come through Te Akau Stud, including King's Chapel and Darci Brahma just to name a few. That was a memorable moment for me - seeing David purchase Darci Brahma, the first million-dollar horse he purchased. I led him off the truck and down the road to his paddock and watched his first stakes' win at Matamata (I made a lot of money that day!). I was here throughout his whole career, before he was eventually sold to stud. That must be one of the most memorable moments for me during my time at the stud.

While I was working with the horses, I also looked after a mob of 100 bulls - that is all we ran up the back of the block we call Peter Hall's. The farm was predominately racehorses back then. We only had a couple of steers and a few ewes to tidy up the paddocks after the horses had been through.

As the farm grew, so did the amount of cattle we had, and it soon got to the point where I could not work with both the horses and the stock. I made the decision to move to full time stock work, but I am still very much involved with horses when needed. I'm always on-hand to help, whether it is loading or unloading horses or walking them out to their new paddocks.

We now have over 2000 head of cattle, give or take and it is a great balance between horses and stock. I am always up for a challenge, and that is why I have stuck to farming. The lightbulb moment also came to me was when I found out that I was going to become a father, and I knew instantly that I wanted my children to be raised in the country. I have two children, Savannah (10) and Kade (6) with my beautiful wife, Melissa and there is no place better to raise them than right here on the farm.

I'm proud of the farm Te Akau Stud has become. Just seeing the difference of when our rising one steers first arrive on the farm to when they leave for Greenlea as beasts and topping our weight records is very satisfying. It also helps that David has a fertiliser fetish as that allows us to grow the quality of stock that we do, and no expense is spared when it comes to developing the farm. That is a very rare attitude to have when it comes to most farmers, and it makes my job easier.

Over the last 20 years, I have seen many people come and go from all walks of life here at the stud, and that is a great quality about David - he always gives everyone a chance.

The people we have here are great, and many farms don't have the team like we do. David is hard but fair and is a great man to work for. Both Karyn and David are always happy to help, and if you have a great work ethic, they will always support you, 100 percent.

As for being awarded Team Member of the Quarter, I don't think that is necessary - I am part of the furniture here at Te Akau Stud and surely there is someone else much more deserving. I am quite happy keeping in the background and out of the limelight. I'm very appreciative of the thought, but the way I see it is that it's a job that I love doing, and will keep doing for the years to come, and I am grateful for the opportunity of being here at Te Akau Stud.

Luke is a valued member of the Te Akau community - loves fishing and hunting and is a superb local rugby rep!!  His wife Melissa also dedicates a ,to of her time and energy to many local activities and organisations including the local playcentre and the primary school.

David and Karyn developed the Team Member Award to recognise amazing people who are passionate and committed to Te Akau - the winner each quarter receives a cash bonus.