Southdown Sheep Society, NZ

Results from the Fielding Ram Fair held on Dec 12th 2012.

Lot 63 Willowhaugh  $1000  (Willowhaugh Enterprises Ltd)

Lot 64 Willowhaugh $1000   (Willowhaugh Enterprises Ltd)

Lot 65 Silverdale passed  (S W Gray)

Lot 66 Silverdale passed  (S W Gray)

Lot 67 Mangakura 26/11  (S.P.& P.J.Innes)  $2200, purchased Merrydowns and top price

Lot 68 Mangakura  $1500  (S.P.& P.J.Innes)

Lot 69 Moor End, passed  (J T Wynyard)

Lot 70 Moor End $1000  (J T Wynyard)

Lot 71 Wiri, passed  (Glenhazard Holdings Ltd)

Lot 72 Wiri, passed  (Glenhazard Holdings Ltd)

Lot 73 Westmeath, passed  (Mrs J A Wilson)

Lot 74 Rawa, passed (K L & S J Johnston)

Lot 75 Waidale $1500,  (Waidale Southdown Stud)

Lot 76 Waidale, $1000  (Waidale Southdown Stud)

Lot 77 Willowhaugh $1500,  (Willowhaugh Enterprises Ltd)

Lot 78 Willowhaugh $1000  (Willowhaugh Enterprises Ltd)

Lot 79 Silverdale passed  (S W Gray)

Lot 80 Mangakura $800  (S.P.& P.J.Innes)

Lot 81 Wiri $1000  (Glenhazard Holdings Ltd)

Lot 82 Westmeath pen of 2 Ewes $225,  (Mrs J A Wilson)

Lot 83 Westmeath pen of 2 Ewes $225,  (Mrs J A Wilson)

Lot 84 Westmeath pen of 2 ewes $250,  (Mrs J A Wilson)

Ian & Christina Jordan with their Supreme Champion Meat Breed ram at the 150th Canterbury A & P Show

Astute buying paid off for Christina Jordan from Willowhaugh Stud in Blenheim. A two-year-old Southdown ram she bought for $8500 in Christchurch last January was the supreme champion meat breed sheep.

Jordan said the ram bred by Waimate farmer Chris Medlicott had been the best ram at the Canterbury A & P Association’s Stud Ram and Ewe Fair and this was backed by its win in the show ring.

“We bought him because he was the best sheep at the ram sale. He’s so structurally sound with great muscling and we have a lot of lambs on the ground from him now after he went to 90 ewes last year.”

Jordan said winning at the show was still an adrenaline buzz especially at the 150th anniversary show and despite previous successes.

The Blenheim breeder won the same title last year with a Southdown ewe and again previously with the ewe’s mother to make it three wins in a row.

Full Southdown Results:

Judge(s): Blair Robertson, Gore
Scott Innes, Warkworth – Associate Judge
Brian Hayman, Rangiora & David Wylie, Ashburton – Merial Alliance Class
Ram, over 18 months, shorn. (7): Jordan I M & C A 1, Jordan I M & C A 2, Christey A C & L K 3.

Alliance NZ Ltd Ram, under 18 months, shorn. (21): Williams P G, F C & B R , Maclean Donald M 1, Jordan I M & C A 2, Jordan I M & C A 3.

Alliance NZ Ltd & Merial Ancare Quality Meat Yield Class, two Rams, (13): Gillespie A D 1, Jordan I M & C A 2, Gill R E & J 3.

Champion Southdown Ram : I M & C A Jordan.

John Deans Southdown Sheep Terrine Canterbury A&P Association trophy awarded to John Deans in 1884 : I M & C A Jordan.

Reserve Champion Southdown Ram : Donald M Maclean.

Ewe, over 30 months, shorn, and her suckling lamb(s). (8): Jordan I M & C A 1, Jordan I M & C A 2, Christey A C & L K 3.

Ewe, 18 to 30 months, shorn and her suckling lamb(s). (9): Jordan I M & C A 1, Williams P G, F C & B R 2, Jordan I M & C A 3.

Essential Nutrition Ewe, under 18 months, shorn. (15): Williams P G, F C & B R 1, Williams P G, F C & B R 2, Medlicott Chris J 3, Medlicott Chris J 4.

Allflex NZ Ltd Pair of Ewes, under 18 months, shorn. (9) Jordan I M & C A 1, Christey A C & L K 2, Brannigan S W 3.

Champion Southdown Ewe : I M & C A Jordan.

Jarman Cup – Perpetual Trophy awarded to Champion Southdown Ewe: Jordan I M & C A.

Reserve Champion Southdown Ewe : I M & C A Jordan.

Supreme Champion Southdown : I M & C A Jordan.

James Deans Challenge Shield – Most Points Southdown Section. : I M & C A Jordan.

Below are the results from the Southdown Section at the Royal Show held in Hamilton 26 – 28 October 2012

FEATURE CLASS:

Punchbowl Trophy – Merial Ancare Quality Meat Yield Class

1st  S.P.& P.J. Innes, – Warkworth
2nd  JT Wynyard
3rd Sandra Johnston
4th  S.P.& P.J. Inne
5th SG & PD Baker
6th Jocelyn Charleston

CHAMPION SOUTHDOWN RAM

S.P.& P.J. Innes, – Warkworth

RESERVE CHAMPION SOUTHDOWN RAM

Charleston/Murvale Farms Ltd

CHAMPION SOUTHDOWN EWE

JT Wynyard

RESERVE CHAMPION SOUTHDOWN EWE

Sandra Johnston

SUPREME CHAMPION SOUTHDOWN

S.P.& P.J. Innes, – Warkworth

Omakau Southdown breeder Donny Maclean with some of the sheep on display during a New Zealand Southdown southern tour.

The Maclean family, of Omakau, will next year mark 60 years of breeding Southdown sheep.

Don Maclean started the Bellfield Southdown stud in 1953 and the stud now encompasses 120 ewes.

Bellfield was one of 11 properties visited during the New Zealand Southdown southern tour which was hosted in Otago and Southland last week.

The property is farmed by Donny and Cathy Maclean, their daughter Kate, and Mr Maclean’s parents, Don and Win.

All five contributed to the running of the farm, with a small amount of casual labour employed for lamb marking and haymaking.

Bellfield was taken up in 1889 by Donny Maclean’s great-great-grandfather, upon his arrival from the Orkney Islands.

The family landed at Port Chalmers, taking the train to Dunback and then walked to Omakau, a journey that took four days.

Mr Maclean’s great-great-grandfather went blind on the ship on the way to New Zealand and so his two sons and a daughter led him by the hand on the long journey. The elder son broke his leg three miles from their destination.

With some additions to the original property over the years, the Maclean family now farms 890ha, of which half is under flood irrigation and the remainder is unirrigated.

As well as the Southdown stud, a South Suffolk stud was added in 1986 and a Dorset Down stud in 1992.

The family runs 2150 crossbred ewes and 650 stud ewes, 670 crossbred hoggets, 165 stud ram hoggets and 180 stud ewe hoggets. They also run 1100 merino wether hoggets on the hill and 100 cattle.

A lot of emphasis was placed on performance recording of the stud sheep, Donny Maclean said.

“We want to know that we are able to present our clients with as much information as they require about the sires we produce.

“They can go away happy in the knowledge that the rams they have purchased are proven to give them maximum returns for their farming business,” he said.

Australian Southdown breeder Graeme Dehnert has been enjoying his first trip to New Zealand.

About 45 people were on the tour, including some Australian visitors. Graeme Dehnert, from the Fernhill stud in Victoria, was on his first trip to New Zealand.

Last year, some New Zealand breeders visited his property as part of a tour and he decided it was an opportunity to catch up with people and see some sheep.

He is also returning in November for the Canterbury A and P Show.

Mr Dehnert has 180 stud ewes, along with a flock of commercial ewes, a cattle share-farming operation and some cropping on the 400ha property.

The Southdown stud was established by his father in 1930 and the breed was “in the blood”.

He won champion Southdown ram at the Royal Melbourne Show last year.

Southland Southdown Breeders Club chairman Rob Hall believed the breed was in good heart in New Zealand.

Describing it as “go-ahead”, he said there was a lot of potential, especially for breeding early lambs. Getting lambs away early was “money in the bank”.

Ram sales had gone well this year and it was encouraging to see some new studs being established.

The first Southdown stud flock in New Zealand was founded in 1863.

Over 40 enthusiastic Southdown breeders attended the annual Southdown NZ national tour.  An exciting programme of Stud & Farm visits,  Judging & Corrective mating workshops, Curling competitions, picturesque scenery and of course the experience of the warm Southern hospitality.  Of special mention was the very informative and entertaining bus commentary provided by Roger Keach.  Roger’s depth of knowledge of the area was absolutely fantastic and made the long days on the bus very interesting and memorable.  Thank you very much Roger for all your research and time.  Thank you to the organising committee, Rob Hall (Chairman), Don Murray, Graham Calder & Blair Robertson for all your work.  Please visit the Photo Gallery  for more photographs.

2011 SOUTHDOWN NZ TOUR TO AUSTRALIA

Monday 2nd May saw 22 NZ Southdown breeders arrive at the Mantra Tullamarine Hotel, near the Melbourne Airport for our evening get-together. Graeme Hooper (Southdown Australia President) and Lauren joined us for dinner and welcomed our group to Australia. PGG Wrightson caps with special ‘Australian Southdown Tour 2011’ embroidery were handed out to tour members and were also given out to the Australian breeders we visited. Thank you to PGG Wrightson for their sponsorship.

On Tuesday morning we left Melbourne in our two mini-vans, driven by Graham and myself, with the help of GPS and our navigators we headed to Bunding to Ian & Ollie Ireland’s ROMALE stud. Their daughter Roslyn is also very keen on the Southdowns. They put together a very professional display both of sheep and news & show articles and photographs. Their sheep display included their 2010 ewe lamb drop which were penned up in sire groups, some of which were NZ AI sires. This was very interesting and gave us a good look at different breeding lines.

Later that morning we headed around the road to Graeme Dehnert’s FERNHILL stud. Graeme, his sister Lyn & their mother Jessie all assist in the Southdown operation. This was a larger stud which included a number of purchases from the ‘Southern Pastures’ dispersal. Nancy Baker of ‘Southern Pastures’ and her daughter had travelled to be with us for the visit. The Dehnert’s provided a big display of ewes, ewe lambs and ram lambs. As a point of interest we selected 3 top ewes out of the mob and had a judging demonstration. This provided a lot of discussion and different opinions. The Dehnert’s provided us with a fantastic BBQ lunch and dessert. We thank them for their tremendous hospitality. Whilst enjoying lunch we had a lot of Southdown history, photographs and books to absorb. The family had arranged a number of boards and books around the woolshed for us to look at. We all very much appreciated the effort they had made.

Next stop was at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat where we stayed onsite at the lodge at the gold mining town theme park. The group had a couple of hours to entertain themselves around the colonial buildings, gold museum and ‘live’ the atmosphere of a bygone era.

That evening, at Sovereign Hill we attended the ‘Blood on the Cross’ sound and light show which included a pre-show dinner. The Ireland and Dehnert families joined us for the very entertaining evening.

Wednesday morning we headed to Tylden to Andrew Sellars-Jones CHANDPARA stud. Andrew had also gone to a large effort to display all of his Southdowns. His ewes that were sired by NZ sires were penned separately and also a number of his best ram lambs were displayed in progeny groups with their dams. This provided us with a very comprehensive look at his bloodlines.

Next we headed to Tatura, (via lunch at Heathcote) to visit Rob & Lynne McCartney’s YENTRAC stud. We saw their ewes, the rams used this year and a selection of their ewe and ram lambs. The McCartney’s had recently dispersed their Ayrshire dairy stud for exceptionally good prices. It was very interesting to talk to Rob about their stud operation and farming in that area of Victoria.

We stayed in Benalla on Wednesday night. Our last dinner together was held at the Commercial Hotel. Ian Ireland, Graeme Hooper & Lauren joined us for the evening. It was a good “Aussie Pub” and after a number of refreshments the ‘Court session’ was held. This provided a number of laughs and a few fines for most of the tour group. Thank you to the Sheriff Stuart and his helpers!

Thursday morning we travelled a short distance from Benalla to Graeme Hooper’s CLEAR HILLS stud. Graeme has a large stud of 300 ewes that was established in 1928. Graeme & Lauren presented a big line-up of the sires used that season , the mob of around 100 two-tooth ewes, their large mob of mixed age ewes and a selection of both their ewe and ram lambs. It was also nice to meet Graeme’s brother his wife and son.

The next stop was Rutherglen DPI Research Institute. Nick Linden gave us a comprehensive presentation and demonstration on the lamb feed efficiency trial that he is currently leading. He was a very approachable speaker who was informative and passionate about his research. I am sure we all learnt a few things from this visit. We were also fortunate to receive a complementary BBQ lunch. A big thank you to Nick and DPI for their time and hospitality.

Unfortunately that was the end of the tour visits, so we headed back to Melbourne late that afternoon. Most tour members dispersed to other arrangements that evening. However a few of us stayed back at the Mantra Hotel on Thursday night, some of us engaging in an entertaining tour of the ‘highlights’ of Melbourne City that night!

In conclusion, it was great couple of days that took a bit of planning but it was all very much worth the time and effort. We saw a lot of gum trees, green grass and very good Southdowns. Thank you to Ian Ireland for his help in initiating and organising the tour and also for travelling around all the visits with our group.

The Australian breeders are a tremendous group of people and very passionate about the Southdown breed. They went the ‘extra mile’ to display their sheep and make our tour a special time for all. Our Southdown ‘family’ has certainly extended to include our trans-Tasman friends.

See the Gallery for photographs of the tour.

Deer get marching orders
PATRICK O’SULLIVAN | Thursday, February 2, 2012 9:01

Stephen Baker of Te Mara Southdown

CHANGE OF TACK: Stephen Baker will miss farming deer as he expands his Southdown sheep stud. Stephen Baker of Omakere is selling his herd of red deer to concentrate on his Te Mara Southdown Stud as demand rises for a breed that has evolved to suit Hawke’s Bay conditions.

“I can’t seem to make enough of them,” he said.

“Southdown has changed a bit to how it used to be. Everyone thought you’d get a lot of fats out of a Southdown but you don’t – they grade well and you get more.

“For those pre-Christmas early lambs the old Southdown is great. Straight off mum they yield better – I’ve got guys killing 3-month-old milk lambs off mum at 18-19kg [yield].

“They seem to like the dry country and Hawke’s Bay is renown to be a bit dry.”

He said rams were reported to last longer and the fast growth made for less work.

“Most of them are gone before its time to shear.”

Fleeces are considered medium wool type with a fibre diameter of 23.5 to 29.0 microns.

“They’re not a wool sheep they’re a fat lamb sheep.”

He will sell his 200 hinds over the next over two years.

“Most are sold privately through an agent but there is an annual deer sale in Taihape.”

He said he will be sad to see the deer go.

“I do enjoy them – they’re different to work than a lot of stock. Some days you can go out and it only takes 10 minutes to move them, other days they give the run-around.

“You either love them or you hate them. They’re harder on your dogs, they’ll chase them, especially at the first muster after fawning because they are protecting their baby – they box the dogs with their front feet.”

The danger of working alone with the large flighty deer in he yards is another reason to quit.

“Sheep don’t jump on you.”

“The odd one will get up and clout you with their front feet in the shed but I just get rid of them. I’m in the deer shed by myself so I can’t afford to be hit.

“But they are an interesting animal. If you come out at night and see the fawns playing on these faces – man can they scoot. They are a beautiful animal to watch.

His deer paddocks have long grass for fawning, which finished in January.

“If your fawns haven’t got any cover to hide in like this long grass, then they’ll go and poke around and look to hop through the fences – they don’t need much of a hole.”

He shoots wild venison that are attracted to his herd.

“You do get the odd wild one but it’s not really stalking, they are just standing on the fence. Hunting is when you go into the bush.”

Wild deer have to be kept away from his herd to protect its TB-free status. The herd is tested every three years, requiring their necks to be shaved before a test injection from a vet.

He said venison was a far superior meat when cooked right and it was a shame it had not been marketed better in New Zealand.

Daughter Tiffany said the venison cooked by her dad was always the first to be eaten at their barbecues.

Most venison is exported.

Despite his enjoyment of the deer, his 453ha farm has to be treated as a business if it is to continue to succeed.

“I’ll make twice as much money on the Southdown as I do on the deer,” he said.

While the 2012 South Island Ram Fair held in Christchurch on 12th January was not the best sale in recent memory, a Southdown ram from Chris Medlicott’s Clifton Downs Stud topped the sale overall selling for $8500 to Ian & Christina Jordan’s Willowhaugh Stud in combination with Andrew Sellars-Jones’ Chandpara Stud from Victoria, Australia.

Purchasers Ian Jordan, Christina Jordan & Andrew Sellars-Jones along with vendor Chris Medlicott.

Below you can see the the full results for the Southdown breeders.

South Island Ram Fair Results - click to view

Feilding Ram Fair  Held 14^th December, 2011.

There were 28 rams on offer with 16 sold, one withdrawn and 11 passed at the fall of the hammer. The average was $2112.50 and the top price went to Willowhaugh 142/10, Lot 80 purchased by RT & JM McKenzie and SW Gray.

It was good to see commercial farmers paying up to $3000 for a Southdown Ram.

Sale Results:

Tasvic Family Trust ,Waimate, Tasvic Downs  34/10  $2500, 18/10 passed

C.J.Medlicott, Waimate.  Clifton Downs 210/10 $2500, 229/10 $1600, 365/10 withdrawn

Willowhaugh Enterprises Ltd, Blenheim.  Willowhaugh 92/10 $3000.  74/10 $2200, 142/10 $4500 (top price purchased by S.W.Gray and  R.T.& J.M.McKenzie),140/10 $2500, 32/10 $2700.

Glenhazard Holdings, Masterton , Wiri 75/10 passed, 119/10 passed,84/10, $1200, 49/10 passed.

Mrs R.M.Bradley, Dannevirke.  Tuanui H39/10 passed, H1/10  passed.

J.T.Wynyard, Warkworth.  Moor End 15/10, $1500, 33/10 $1500

S.W.Gray, Palmerston North. Silverdale 70/10, $1700, 120/10, $1800.

R.L.& J.M.McKenzie, Masterton.  Glen Orrin 106/10, passed, 80/10 passed.

Mrs.J.A.Wilson, Masterton. Westmeath G45/10 passed, G46/10 $1100.

A.D.Signal, Feilding.  Taumata 2/10 passed, 76/10 passed.

S.P.& P.J.Innes, Warkworth. Mangakura 102/10 $1500, 32/10 $2000.