Breeder reaps rewards of passion and faith

The low point was in the early 1980s, when Chris Medlicott sold just seven Southdown rams in one year.
It was not that they were poor sheep — a truckload of lamb carcass and production-based show awards proved his rams were doing the job for which they were bred.

Rather, the Waimate ram breeder and his 70 fellow breeders were suffering the “short, fat Southdown” sheep backlash from commercial prime lamb producers.
“It was really hard to handle that stigma,” Mr Medlicott said, in something of an understatement.
“To be fair, the culls were really nice tasting,” he added.
Today, the owner of the Clifton Downs Southdown stud is reaping the rewards that come from loyalty — a resurgence of interest in the breed that means he sells over 100 rams a year and cannot satisfy demand.
Such has been the turnaround that, this year, one of his rams sold for a world-record price for the breed of $16,000 at the Canterbury Stud Ram Fair.
He sold another two years before that for $13,200.
Mr Medlicott believes the breed was a victim of its own popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, when studs were common and some breeders were not as studious in their attention to its attributes and traits as they should have been.
“It was the worst thing to happen to the breed. We had people propagating them, really.”
Southdown Romney cross lambs were ideal for producing the small roast demanded by the English housewife, but the crossbred lambs became too short and too fat and the Southdown got the blame.
“The Southdown got more of the blame than it deserved,” Mr Medlicott said.
But he saw through that criticism, partly because of family history — Clifton Downs was started by his grandfather in 1956 — but also because of the view that Southdowns were not to blame and had plenty to offer the prime lamb industry.
“I stuck with Southdowns because they are efficient, they are hardy, and because of their conformation.“
He cites overseas studies that show conversion of feed to meat in Southdowns exceeds other breeds, his own experience is that the breed can handle extended dry periods long after other breeds have given up, and it has superior rib-eye area and low fat cover.
His grandfather and father had maintained length in their sheep and continued to win carcass competitions and earn a reputation for breeding sheep that did not have a fat problem.
“We stuck to those values and worked closely with the meat companies.”
But the ram-buying public was not convinced or not observing, with the breed’s low point in the early 1980s.

There has been a steady recovery and, for the past 10 years, the stud has sold every ram it has had for sale.
Many of the farmers who earlier questioned why the family stayed true to the breed were now regular ram buyers.
The reason the Medlicotts stayed with Southdowns was that they were passionate about the breed.
“I don’t care what you are involved in, you have got to have passion. Money comes second. If you have got passion, money will come.”

Two years ago, confirmation came that the family’s breeding programme was on the right track when they sold a ram for $13,200 to Southland breeders Todd and Fleur Anderson.
This year, the Andersons teamed up with Peter and Audrey Campbell, also from Southland, to pay $16,000 for another Southdown ram.
Mr Medlicott is buoyed by the dedication, attitude and desire of those breeders more than by the money.
“They will be successful. To have those sorts of people breeding sheep alongside me gives me a real buzz.”
Despite the resurgence of interest, Mr Medlicott does not have plans to rapidly expand his Southdown flock, saying he wants to keep it manageable and maintain the values and attributes that have got him to this point.
Instead, he is gearing up his Romney stud, predicting a bright future as farmers realise they could be getting the same production results from well bred traditional breeds as they are attributing to composite sheep breeds.
“I believe a lot of farmers using composites would get similar or better results if they bought top traditional sheep breeds from breeders with good objective measurement.”
The other factor that will result in a return to traditional dam breeds is declining wool quality from some composite sheep.
“New Zealand needs a wool industry and black fibre is a problem. I still want $3 a kg for wool rather than nothing.”

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