Halfbred lamb sales are a rarity in Southland, so Nokomai Station’s on-farm sale on Wednesday 18 April attracted a strong gallery of buyers from Otago and Canterbury who were looking for some of the last of season’s lambs from the region. The on-farm sale offered 8,616 halfbred and 2,692 Texel X lambs for sale. The Station achieved top dollar for their well-bred high country lambs.



Nokomai Station’s James Hore said, “The Station is a store stock property, so we try and get those animals off the property by mid-April, before we muster the ewes prior to putting the rams out.



“We used to have a small on-farm sale in January for our Texel X lambs but switched to selling privately about four years ago. This is the first time we have sold our halfbred lambs on-farm. We have taken the lambs through as far as we can, so selling them all at once worked well for us this year.



“We weaned in early February and the farm was pretty dry then so we had to weigh up whether to hold onto them or sell them at a low price. We decided to keep them - as we have plenty of land up top - so that’s where we put them. Since then we have had a bit of rain and the pasture has improved. We brought the lambs down to the lower blocks about six weeks ago and they did well on that pasture. So we ended up being pretty happy with the lambs we offered at the sale.” 

PGG Wrightson Livestock Agent Barry McAlister said, “Nokomai Station is one of the only high country stations in Southland with a large halfbred flock. No one else is offering this number of halfbred lambs at once. It gives buyers a big line of consistent lambs so it works well for them too. The sale also offered Texel X lambs.

“The lambs have come through a really dry period. They were looking hard six weeks ago, but about that time James put them onto some good pasture and they have since put on a lot of condition. The top cut of halfbred wethers were about 36 kg.



“All of the lambs go north - with 50 percent going to finishers in Mid Canterbury, about the same amount to Central Otago and one line heading up to Cheviot in North Canterbury. They are usually farmed through to September and shorn and then killed in October or November. The halfbreds are attractive to lamb finishers as they offer an additional $25 - $30 per head for the wool.



“The market has changed. Now we see a shortage of halfbred ewes overall. Most farmers went out of halfbred breeding ewes about 10 years ago and moved to crossbreds. Some of those farmers are now making the move back to halfbreds, which is why we saw high prices for halfbred ewe lambs at the sale with the top cut selling for $127 per head.



“A lot of lambs went out of Southland early this year due to the drought, so the region is now down to its last 20 percent or so. From now only smaller lines will be offered,” said Barry.

Sale Results

The average price overall was $113.50 per head, with the top cut prices:

• Halfbred wether lambs (pen of 825) sold for $131 per head.
• Halfbred ewe lambs (pen of 461) sold for $127 per head.
• Texel X wether lambs (pen of 472) sold for $125 per head.
• Texel X ewe lambs (pen of 630) sold for $117 per head.

About Nokomai Station

James and Liv Hore farm Nokomai Station in Northern Southland, just south of the township of Athol. The 40,000 hectare farm runs 20,000 breeding ewes (Merino and halfbred) 1,500 Merino wethers and 800 Hereford breeding cows. The Station has only been owned by two families, firstly by the Cameron’s from 1860 and then James’ grandfather Frank since 1950. The Station was subsequently farmed by his parents Brian and Ann Hore.