| 19 South Suffolk stud a focus for couple Glendonald stud ewes, displaying the “wedge shaped” carcass. Prime lambs (below) sired by Glendonald South Suffolk rams straight off mothers at weaning. Virginia Wright RURAL PEOPLE » Glendonald Station The largest range of side by sides in the Wairarapa We service and repair all makes and models of ATV's, Side by Sides and Bikes. High St, Carterton | 06 379 7887 | sargentmotorcycles.nz Alan Evans managed Glendonald Station in Bideford, northeast of Masterton, for 22 years before moving to just south of Martinborough in 2019 to manage Patakanui, the farm newly purchased by his employer Colin Oldfield. He and his wife Raewyn are shareholders in the stock and plant used on both farms under the Glendonald Station Ltd banner, and live and work on Patakanui which is the smaller of the two. Its 306 effective from 318 hectares features a wide variety of land. “It’s got everything really from heavy clay flats up to light, steep shaley country. We’ve got a trig on the highest point which is 266 metres above sea level,” says Alan. At roughly half the height of the Rimutaka Hill summit, that’s not that high but as Alan points out it still offers a magnificent view of the Wairarapa Valley. When they took over in 2019 the Evans’ started an ongoing programme of development adapting many of the existing paddocks to a size more suitable to their Glendonald South Suffolk Stud. Started by Alan in 2004 at Glendonald Station the stud moved with him to Patakanui. “We’re doing a lot of new subdivision and repair fencing and installing more reticulated stock water, making the paddocks smaller and more manageable. With the stud you always need lots of little paddocks due to single sire mating and trying to keep rams where they should be,” says Alan. They mate around 1050 commercial ewes on Patakanui, mainly Romney with a handful of Romney-Texel 2-tooths, all mated to a terminal sire: the Romneys to a Sufftex and the Romtex to a South Suffolk. “The progeny are either sent for processing by us or sold as weaned lambs in mid to late November for finishing, so they’re ready for the works before things get too dry,” says Alan. With the move to a smaller property Alan’s enjoying being able to focus more on the South Suffolk Stud. “In the last couple of years we’ve started having an on-farm auction which has given that side of the business a boost. It’s a bit of a passion of mine and there’s a good market for them. I could sell more than what I produce if I had them,” says Alan. He puts this down to a decrease in the breed numbers, due to a recent shift in breeding preference towards composite sheep in terminal breeds, which has resulted in a shortage of the genuine black-faces of the South Suffolk, Dorset Down and Suffolks. “When people cross them with their white-faced ewes, you get a lamb with a black face which is identifiable as terminal progeny and which makes them a marketable product for the people that are selling them. If you put all your ewes to a Romney ram and want to sell off your surplus white face ewe lambs for example, versus selling one with a black face, you’ll always get a premium for one with the black face which clearly marks it as a terminalsired lamb.” NGĀPUTAHI “Breeders of Genetically Superior Seedstock” Proud to support Glendonald Station Forbes Cameron 06 329 4050 | 0275294050 Angus Cameron 06 329 4711 cameronfamily@inspire.net.nz Please scan our QR Code to read our 2022 Bull Data Terminal sired lambs are always preferable to a pure-bred maternal for a purchaser looking to finish them. “A maternal’s bred for lots of different traits not just growth but a black face terminal like ours, that’s what we’re focusing on when we’re breeding rams. We’re chasing growth, especially early growth to weaning, but also have a strong focus on carcass shape which will get more meat into them, and we’ve spent 19 years culling hard for good feet and structurally sound feet and legs,” says Alan. With the relative lack of genuine black-faced rams around Alan’s expecting a good turnout at this year’s sale on November 23rd on the farm at 813 Lake Ferry Rd where he’ll have around 80 rams to auction.
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