First-time on-farm sale at Snowdon Station, Central Canterbury offering genetics with conformation, early growth, meat and survival.

Snowdon Station north of the Rakaia Gorge near Windwhistle, Central Canterbury is offering a selection of the farm’s prestigious genetics via a first ever on-farm ram sale.

PGG Wrightson Livestock Genetics Rep for the Upper South Island Simon Eddington, who has worked alongside Snowdon Station for several years, is overseeing the 6^th of December sale of 100 Suffolk and 100 Perendale rams, plus a selection of Cheviot-Suffolk and Romdale crosses. He says the sale is an excellent opportunity to access some desirable hardy and high yielding sheep genetics.

“Snowdon Station is an outstandingly beautiful property, with harsh environments that provide a thorough test for the sheep it breeds, ensuring temperament, mothering and survivability traits come through. Any stock bred up there are fully proven.

“Breeding Perendales since the 1970s, Suffolks since about 2015, and with a small Cheviot stud, their stock comes from a highly regarded farming legacy of proven performance, stretching back more than 80 years.

“With a focus on getting lambs on the ground, ensuring they will survive, then grow as quickly as possible, Snowdon Station targets the best available sires. When they need a sire, they are always prepared to seek out the best genetics from studs throughout the country. Their approach seeks continuous improvement, meaning uncompromising attention on the details, which PGG Wrightson Livestock Genetics is happy to support,” he says.

Snowdon Station owner Annabel Tripp is the third generation of her family to hold the property. She looks for specific characteristics when enhancing the genetics of her flocks.

“Primarily we aim for structure above all else, which comes through in conformation, thickness, a strong head and muzzle. For both the Perendales and Suffolks we breed for survival, early growth and meat yield, while for the Perendales we also seek fertility, wool and resistance to worms and facial excema. All our stock across each breed are fully recorded for performance, and DNA tested, providing accurate information on parentage, plus genomics for breeding values, growth and meat,” she says.

Previously selling rams privately, plus a small selection annually via Gore’s South Island Premier Ram Fair, Snowdon Station rams have found their way to farms throughout the country, including Southland, the top of the South Island, Canterbury, and various North Island regions. Taihape-based PGG Wrightson Livestock representative Gareth Williams has several clients who buy Snowdon Station rams and will take a keen interest in this year’s sale.

“Snowdon Station is an immaculate farm with an impeccable and well-deserved reputation. Their terminal sires and Perendale rams are renowned for excellent structure. For many years several of my Taihape farming clients have regularly bought a few Snowdon rams. Due to the productivity these clients achieve, they come back to Snowden genetics each year,” he says.

Covering 2100 hectares, with grazing ranging from 550 to 1300 metres above sea level, Snowdon Station runs 11,000 stock units, including 6500 commercial Perendale ewes and beef cattle, alongside the Perendale, Suffolk and Cheviot studs.

“This is a challenging environment, typically with 1000 millimetres of annual rainfall, high altitude, long winters, and a short growing season. Winter snow sometimes blankets the farm for up to six weeks, while summer is often dry.

“We run our stud sheep in large mobs and they are all wintered on the property. We breed our rams to do well in these conditions. We work hard to produce easy-care sheep that can endure severe climatic extremes, traits that our rams will deliver when taken elsewhere,” says Annabel.

A hybrid on-farm and online event, the Snowdon Station Ram Sale will also feature on bidr.

View the PGG Wrightson Genetics Facebook page here.