Te Anau farmer says breed underrated
Te Anau farmer Geoff Macfarlane has always had a soft spot for hampshires.
He believes they are one of the most underrated sheep breeds in the country, but he’s hoping to change that.
Macfarlane’s hampshires were thrust into the limelight when he sold a ram for $7200 at the Gore Ram Fair to Ben Butterick of Banks Peninsula.
Unsure if it was a record price or not, he was nonetheless pleased with how his top ram sold on the day.
‘’It was definitely my shout. I don’t think we will have a day like that again,’’ Macfarlane said.
Macfarlane said the ram, while not massive in size, was very meaty and well-muscled and had a real presence about him.
‘’He was a real compact ram – to me he just stood out.’
The same ram went on to be named supreme sheep at the Banks Peninsula A&P Show and best animal of the show.
It was Macfarlane’s first time selling rams at the Gore ram fair and he sold another one for $2100.
Previously he sold his rams at the Canterbury ram fair.
Macfarlane started his Four Winds Hampshire stud in partnership with his mother Rita at Oxford when he was just 10 years old.
‘‘I’d seen them (Hampshires) in a sheep breeds book and really liked the look of them.’’
The breed was desired for its fast growth rates, high yielding carcass, quiet temperament and crossed well with any maternal sheep breed. Originally from the country of Hampshire in England the breed arrived in New Zealand in 1861. It was established by crossing Southdown rams with ewes off the old Wiltshire horn and Berkshire knot breeds.
Macfarlane bought his first 10 hampshire ewes at a dispersal sale at Oamaru in 1999 and gradually increased the number of ewes farmed.
School holidays and weekends would be spent playing with his beloved Hampshires.
Macfarlane’s mother looked after the stud when he got a job on a sheep and beef farm at Albury in South Canterbury.
When the opportunity to lease a 200 hectare property at Te Anau came up two years ago he and partner Georgina PriergaardPetersen decided to move south.
Macfarlane bought out his mother’s share of the Hampshire stud and relocated it to Te Anau.
Along with about 70 stud ewes, they also winter about 480 dairy cows and graze 260 yearling and two-year-old heifers.
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‘‘I’d seen them (Hampshires) in a sheep breeds book and really liked the look of them.’’ - Te Anau farmer Geoff Macfarlane.