| 55 Spring Creek Downs expands stud operation Hugh de Lacy Their black faces are just about as important a selling point for Andrew and Hailey Gillespie’s Dorset Down rams as their long-established reputation for producing muscly, fast-growing progeny, Spring Creek Downs studmaster Andrew says. “The Dorset Downs are increasingly popular with a younger generation of farmers because the black faces make drafting lambs a much simpler task – no need to go clambering through the race marking the ones you want to go. “I got into running a Dorset Down stud just four years ago when I bought 40 ewes from Colin and Liz Smith when they dispersed their Bankhead stud after 50 years in the business. “Colin’s my grandmother’s brother so the idea of keeping the stud going and in the family was very appealing. “Then earlier this year we bought a further 45 ewes when Alistair and Christine Busch dispersed their Trackly Stud in Ashburton, bringing the Spring Creek Downs Dorset flock up to the present 90. “We sold our first 10 rams in 2023 through personal contacts, Colin’s repeat clients and agent recommendations, and this year we’ll have 20 to sell. “Again we won’t bother with an on-farm sale but continue to sell privately,” Andrew says. The Spring Creek Dorset Down line has been measuring up well against the competition that Andrew and Hailey pit them against at shows, with one of his ewes taking out the Champion Ewe title at the Oxford Show in 2023, just two years after they acquired the stud. Colin and Liz Smith had established their Bankhead Dorset Down stud in 1964, taking over from Colin’s father Andrew Smith, who had acquired his original stock from the Boyd-Clark family in Blenheim. Andrew’s uncle Dave Gillespie has a Southdown stud called Midlands, and Andrew and Hailey help him with his flock of 180 ewes, whose male progeny are likewise sold by private arrangement and with the help of agents. “We’ll have 45 Southdown rams to sell this year but it’s a market that’s getting harder to penetrate despite the repeat custom we get: sheep numbers everywhere are down so rams are getting harder to sell. “That’s where a usually insignificant genetic trait, the black faces, becomes an important selling point as farmers seek every possible way to greater efficiency,” Andrew says. The Spring Creek Downs farm comprises 168ha of flat land not far from Oxford in North Canterbury, and the two studs are the only breeding that goes on there. “We otherwise just buy in lambs and fatten them for sale, and buy in calves and take them over two winters and then sell them to the works, allowing us to keep our main focus on the studs,” he says. “While sheep numbers are down, it’s encouraging to see the jump in meat prices we’ve enjoyed this year, and if the trend continues we might well see sheep numbers bottom out and start climbing again. “If that happens, our Dorsets and Southdowns will be in even greater demand,” Andrew says. RURAL PEOPLE » Spring Creek Downs 6 Blake St, Rangiora PH: 03 313 7824 team@prosser-quirke.co.nz www.prosser-quirke.co.nz Proud to be associated with Spring Creek Downs Personal & Professional Service, Farm, Commercial & Business Accountancy, Taxation Advice, Financial Returns Dar f ield Oxford 03 318 8516 03 312 4016 www.frewstransport.co.nz • GENERAL FREIGHT • STOCK• LIME & FERTILISER • GRAIN • LOG CARTAGE • BLOWER TRUCK The Spring Creek Downs farm comprises 168ha of flat land. 12th ANNUAL RAM SALE VIEWING FROM 2PM • SALE 3.30PM TUESDAY 16TH DECEMBER 2025 THE SALE WILL BE LIVESTREAMED ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE www.facebook.com/watertonsheepstud/ CONTACT CHRIS HAMPTON 027 202 5679 cahampton@xtra.co.nz RAMS ON OFFER: 18 PURE CHAROLLAIS • 32 SUFFOLKS 14 SOUTH SUFFOLKS • 8 CHAROLLAIS X SUFFOLKS • 5 KERRY HILLS
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