This page recreates some of the posts on our facebook page about the Society’s Centennial Tour in 2026 as well as copies of speeches and other events all in one place as part of the NZ Southdown Sheep Society historical archive.

This article by Annette Scott in the NZ Farmers Weekly is a good starting place.

A century of Southdown Sheep Society celebrated in Canterbury

Life members John Wynyard and Peter Campbell cut the centennial cake.

One hundred years of the Southdown Sheep Society was celebrated at its grassroots with a centennial dinner at Riccarton House, where the first New Zealand Southdown stud was registered, in 1863, by James Deans.

The milestone celebration saw breeders from across the country gather in Canterbury for the centennial dinner and conference that went on to include three days of field trips visiting Southdown studs across the region.

One hundred years of Southdown sheep was celebrated with a centennial dinner at Riccarton House.

NZ Southdown Society president Chris Medlicott said a feature of the celebrations was the Elite Southdown Ewe Auction of five ewes, donated by five individual breeders across the country, with all the proceeds going to the society’s promotional fund to support the costs of the centennial celebrations.

The ewes achieved well above expectation at an average price of $2540 each.

Other highlights included long-time breeder Stuart Brannigan being honoured with life membership, and Christine Ramsey was recognised for her 45 years of service as the society’s secretary, her dedication and commitment over such a long period documented as “extraordinary”.

Looking back on the 100 years, breeders reflected times past “when genetics used to be an art form; now it’s a science”.

“The most successful breeders are the ones who have been able to blend those as a total package.”

The NZ Southdown Sheep Society was formed in 1926 after the breed had become strong in its own right. With 490 active flocks recorded at the time, the decision was made to separate from the Sheep Breeders’ Association, where Southdowns had been one of the founding breeds.

The Southdown Sheep Society evolved alongside the fortunes of the breed throughout the 20th century. Stud numbers peaked during the late 1950s and early  ’60s before entering a period of decline, when the Southdown was unfairly blamed for the excess fat associated with the Southdown-Romney cross, at the time the dominant fat lamb produced for international markets.

At its peak, the breed was setting world-record prices for stud rams at ram fairs and providing excellent livelihoods for some of the country’s finest stockmen.

During the late 1960s and ’70s, breeders and stockmen worked together to develop the type of animal required to meet NZ Meat Board specifications.

This collaboration led to the establishment of a scientific committee, which worked alongside some of the country’s leading university experts.

Their work included obtaining, measuring and shipping container-loads of Southdown-cross meat to the United Kingdom to gather scientific data and market feedback.

“That work laid the foundations for what later became carcase evaluation at our Royal shows and, ultimately, the performance recording systems, ultrasound technology, and CT scanning we rely on today, tools that allow breeders to compare apples with apples and make measurable genetic progress,” Medlicott said in his centennial address.

“While today is about celebrating the sheep and the breed itself, it is also important to acknowledge the people behind the scenes. Remarkably, over the course of 100 years, the society has had only three secretaries, a testament to the dedication and continuity of service within our organisation.

“Our society, and the people within it, continue to evolve. It is hard to imagine what breeders and their studs will look like another 100 years from now. Yet when we look back through our history, some things have never truly changed, despite the sheep themselves evolving over time.

“The Southdown has always been a meat breed, an early maturing sheep producing exceptional quality and flavour.

“As we look ahead, we must continue working together for the good of our breed and its people, combining stockmanship, measurement, technology, and the sharing of knowledge.

“By doing so, we can preserve the integrity of our purebred Southdowns while continuing to achieve sustainable genetic gains that support productivity, efficiency, and the future viability of NZ’s sheep meat industry.”

read full President’s speech here

The “On Tour Report” courtesy of Facebook

The Southdown tour through Canterbury celebrating 100 years as “The Southdown Sheep Society of New Zealand (Inc)”. We had a really successful trip, thankyou to all those who participated from all over NZ and our fellow breeders from Southdown Australia the bus was full and overflowing.

A special thank you to Louise Christie and her committee for organising such an interesting itinerary with plenty of quality sheep to look at and fun camaraderie over four days we were certainly well fed and watered as is normal on these tours.

Highlights were

• the lunch at Riccarton house to celebrate 100 years where it all started with the Deans family having the first NZ Southdown Stud in 1863. Stu Brannigan the breed’s newest life member put together a fantastic historic display here to.
• The Elite ewe auction which raised over $12,000 for 5 very good ewes to help subsidise the tour and for future promotional costs, thank you Bruce Orr and bidr for running the auction.
• The tour of the family owned Rakaia island dairy farm, milking 4800 cows, a very profitable and productive business with a real focus on sustainable values.
• The centennial jersey and merchandise looked outstanding on the punters thankyou West Ridge NZ Wild South Clothing and Kea Printwear for your support.
• A special thank you to the breeders who opened their gates to show us their stock we really appreciated it. It was noted that the last four breeders in the flock book along with the first who’s stud Silverdale Southdown Stud was established in 1928 were on the bus and that we are headed into our next 100 years with a really positive outlook.

Other historical documents

• Centennial Tour Programme
• BIDr Auction – Ewes Details

Tour Gallery

A photo gallery of some of the photos captured on the tour. If you havve some special photos that you would like to add to this gallery please email them to markmedlicott@gmail.com and ideally a caption about the photos.

Southbridge sheep breeder Andrew Christey can vividly remember taking over the family’s Mapua Southdown stud on a day of mixed feelings.

Southbridge breeder Andrew Christey with the winner in the Southdown Ewe Hogget and All Breeds Miss Canterbury classes at last year’s Canterbury A&P Show.

In between the excitement of he and wife, Louise, carrying on a family tradition was the financial reality.

His father, the late Leo Christey, started the stud with brother, Edward, in 1959 as part of a farm partnership.

With a flock number of 3656, Mapua is the 10th-oldest stud listed in the flock book.

During the 1970s it was transferred into the name of his parents, including mother Leonie who took a keen interest in sheep breeding. In 2007 they took on half the stud.

“The other half was sold to Blair Robertson, who is a well-known stud breeder. Little did I know just how much that half was going to cost me, to be fair. I just said: I will pay what he’s paying and then the bill came in.”

With two children under 5 years, Mark and Sarah, they were keen to carry on the family progression.

Like his parents, they attended the Ellesmere, Christchurch, Oxford, Amberley and Banks Peninsula A&P shows and other events around the country.

The thrill of winning a ribbon in the competitive show ring and the camaraderie among stud breeders was never lost on them.

So there were no regrets about taking on the stud, but its cost was not without financial pain.

“I had just bought the parents out of the farm so I had a few debts on and I think it was something like $40,000 or $50,000 for the stud so it was a little bit more than anticipated. But it was something we could all do as a family and the shows were always a busman’s holiday for us and both kids have grown up liking, enjoying and being a big part of the stud.”

Helping ease the pain somewhat was the sale of Mapua 229/06 for $6400 a year later to Andrew and Tracey Powdrell, who had bought their rams and ram lambs for 30-plus years.

Greendale’s John Clarkson has been a regular buyer for 40 years.

Among other highlights, including winning many show trophies and ribbons, was selling 169/21 to Clifton Downs breeder Chris Medlicott for $6000 in 2022.

On the flipside, the Christeys bought a $13,000 ram in partnership from the Willowhaugh stud about 10 years ago and more lately Clifton Downs bloodlines.

Sarah Christey competing in the youth classes at last year’s Canterbury A&P Show. 

Each year they sell about 30 two-tooth rams and the same number of ram lambs privately, often through stock agents.

The stud flock of 140 breeding ewes mother about 200 lambs at a 160% to 170% lambing percentage.

Some 40 to 50 of the top ewe lambs are retained, as Mr Christey prefers to replace older animals failing to meet high performance standards with younger ewes.

Southdowns are crossed with their commercial flock of about 230 Romney crossbred ewes as their early maturing lambs appearing in late July/early August go off the farm in late November and start of December.

This frees up a busy farming system so they can shut up paddocks, usually for Wattie’s — although the local factory has just closed — and small seed crops.

The commercial flock once numbered 800 crossbreds, but a smaller base is needed to fit in dairy grazing, weaner pigs produced from outdoor sows and a cropping mix of small seeds, wheat and barley.

On an intensively run 110 hectares, wheat and barley are fed to the pigs with straw from these crops and grass seeds going to dairy cows in the winter. Oats and grass are fed out to the sheep in winter and they are then lambed in grass seed paddocks.

Mr Christey said he had always been fond of Southdowns because they were “meaty” animals with a high-yielding frame producing tasty meat.

He prides himself on breeding sheep with good feet and a sturdy body structure that will not let down their buyers.

Many of their rams and ram lambs are sold to hill country farmers in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne.

The Christeys’ operation is among seven studs opening their gates on a stud tour by breeders as part of the Southdown Sheep Society’s four-day centenary celebrations this week.

The Christeys’ connection with the breed was likely to continue: Mr Christey said the family was competitive, enjoyed selling and showing stud animals and sheep breeding was the one thing they all agreed on.

Mark, 25, has spent a lot of time overseas the past five years including planting and harvesting seed in Western Australia.

Sarah, 23, enjoys stud recording and works with her father taking three weeks off work to carry this out, and tagging, for Mapua at lambing.

Their son is keen to carry on the farm and they are working out the best way to do this as they do not want either of them to go through the same big bill pressure they did. The plan is for Sarah to have her own stud on the farm.

By Tim Cronshaw ODT Rural Life

Dessert with a side of Southdown, anyone?

An elite ewe auction is one of the highlights of this week’s Southdown sheep tour in Canterbury, celebrating 100 years of the Southdown Sheep Society of New Zealand.

The auction will be held on Wednesday evening in conjunction with a tour dinner at the Benvenue Hotel in Timaru and also utilising the Bidr online auction platform.

To be held between the main course and dessert, the auction will comprise ewes given by the Wiri, Merrydowns, Omihi, Riverside and Clifton Downs studs and all proceeds will go to the society’s promotional fund.

The tour begins today with a council meeting and annual meeting in Christchurch. Tomorrow, there will be visits to the Flockton stud of John and Melissa Jebson and the Longlee stud of Sam and Anne Hughes.

These will be followed by a visit to Riccarton House, the original home of the Kirkstyle Southdown flock — the first registered Southdown stud in New Zealand, founded by John Deans in 1863.

After lunch at the Makikihi Country Hotel in South Canterbury on Wednesday — voted best South Island rural hotel last year — the tour will head to Chris and Shelley Medlicott’s Clifton Downs stud, followed by John and Macaulay’s Tahrua stud.

It wraps up on Thursday with a visit to three studs — Stuart Brannigan (Musburg), Christey family (Mapua) and Brent Macaulay (Maclaka) — plus a large-scale dairy farm milking about 4800 cows.

The Southdown originated in the United Kingdom and is the oldest of the terminal sire breeds, originating from the native sheep which roamed the South Downs in the south of England for hundreds of years.

The Southdown Sheep Society was formed in 1926 after becoming strong enough in its own right to move away from the Sheepbreeders Association where it had been a founding breed.

The number of Southdown studs peaked in the late 1950s and early 1960s — up to about 1800 — and today there are 46 registered flocks.

In those 100 years, the society has only had three secretaries, including long serving incumbent Christine Ramsay. Chris Medlicott, who farms at Hook, near Waimate, is president, while Don Murray of Waitahuna, is chairman of the centennial organising committee.

Tongan farm worker Lave Masila, with his boss, South Canterbury Southdown stud breeder Chris Medlicott, at the NZ Agricultural Show in Christchurch in November. was founded in 1956 by Chris’ late father Bill, when he left school, and grandfather Jack.

Both shared a passion for the prime lamb industry and they started a stud because they could not buy rams with the conformation they wanted.

Their stockmanship has been handed on to successive generations, both Chris and his son Miles, who is a livestock representative for Anzco Foods.

And they have also shared their knowledge; young farm worker Lave Masila knew nothing about sheep when he landed in New Zealand from Tonga.

Now a key figure in the Medlicott’s farming operation, he had become part of their family and Chris has helped him to establish his own Southdown stud.

Mr Medlicott said the best part of the breed was the people: those involved in the breed were committed, passionate breeders who were trying to keep it relevant to the times.

It was a purebred breed which had stood the test of time and been able to adapt to market-led changes. “I just think they are extremely efficient and have never let me down,” he said.

The family has an on-farm ram sale and sell about 70 rams per year, from East Otago to North Canterbury and also into the North Island. It had been a great year and it was good to see the confidence in the sheep industry, he said.

Written by Sally Rae – ODT Rural Life

For those looking to see the ewes being auctioned at the tour please visit the following link.

BIDR Auction  – Southdown Centenary Celebrations Elite Ewe Auction >>

All proceeds are gifted to the New Zealand Southdown Sheep Society promotional fund. Our thanks to the generosity of these five breeders from throughout New Zealand, Bidr and Sam Murphy and Bruce Orr our in room Auctioneer.

This year the Southdown Society is undertaing the annual tour and celebrating 100 years for the Southdown Sheep Society.

The tour programme, registration links and the chance to purchase celebratory clothing and merchandise lniks can all be found on our events page.

The tour is almost full and the closing date to order merchandise is only a few days away too. Get sorted now!

Group photo from Southdown Tour 2024 – click image for close-up

The Manwatu and Wairarapa Southdown Tour and AGM began at Palmerston North on the 6^th May, 2024 with the late afternoon AGM and then a dinner at the Copthorne Hotel.

On Tuesday 7^th May, we boarded a bus with  14 to start with and over the two day added a further two.  We left Palmerston North on a fine morning and went to Silverdale Stud – Diane and Janet Gray’s at Rongotea. We looked over a very good line of Stud sheep.  From there we then headed south towards Levin and looked at the Stud Flock of Cory Prouting. Again a very good line up of Stud Sheep, and also in the cattle yards some very good Hereford Cows.

Leaving there we headed back to  Massey University and had a very delicious lunch at Wharerata then onto the Massey Veterinary School and went through the large animal section with a very good female lecturer telling us about what is done as it is the Vet training section.  Leaving there it was over the Pahiatua track and onto the Wairarapa desert and arrived at Solway Park Hotel Masterton.

The following morning Wednesday 2^nd May  and a good frost we again got onto the bus and went North East to Rob and Lucy Thorneycroft. Beautiful Autumn tones of the trees and the grape vines  and oh the country so dry.  We were welcomed by Lucy and and then able to look over their Stud. Great how good Southdown’s handle the dry conditions.  Another very good flock and they had some of their Stud Angus sale Bulls for the experts to walk through and comment on.  The Bulls were big strong animals and very quiet.

We waved them good-bye and headed south to Jill Baird’s Wiri flock.  Again a different line of very good sheep that were handling the very dry conditions well.

After Jill’s we went to the Gladstone Inn and after that we heading back to Solway and farewelled 8 of our group who climbed onto a mini bus that took them to Wellington to catch flights South.  The others of us came back to Palmerston North by car and farewelled each other there.

Even though there was not a large number on the Tour it was still a very happy gathering and as always hosts seem to think Southdown breeders are hungry and provide such nice food along the way.  Like the Southdown sheep we saw at the four studs we all went home in good condition.

To all who attended we thank Jill and Janet for  arranging and hosting the tour.

Recently a successful Central Southdown Breeders Club day was held at the home of the Mapua Stud, Andrew and Louise Christey at Southbridge.

The aim was for breeders to bring their ram hoggets, that are entered in the Canterbury Ram Fair, or their own on farm sales that have the potential to be stud sires to be seen by everyone.

There were 38 rams on display, from Blenheim in the North, to Oamaru in the South, and about 40 people, including our New Zealand President, ( judging at the Canterbury A & P Sheep Event the following day) with a number of Stud stock agents also attending.

A fantastic lunch was provided by the Club.

Thanks go to Andrew and Louise for a great day.

Group photo from 2021 Southdown Sheep Society Lower South Tour

Tour Report courtesy ODT Rural News – Article and photos below by Shawn McAvinue 

A tour of Southern farms running Southdown sheep featured discussions about hogget lambing and the traits of the breed farmers must “protect at all costs”.

About 40 people from throughout the country attended the Southdown Sheep Society of New Zealand’s national southern tour last week.

Tour stops included Don Murray’s Riverside stud in Waitahuna, about 10km southeast of Lawrence. Southern Southdown Breeders Club member Roger Keach, of Waihola, started proceedings by quizzing the visitors.

“Who played at two test matches — All Blacks and New Zealand Kiwis — on the same day in Auckland in 1946?” Visitors pondered the question as Mr Murray introduced himself and talked about his system breeding Southdowns on his 550ha farm.

He talked about lambing Southdown hoggets.

“I don’t like skiting but I reckon I’ve just about nutted this hogget lambing — it’s not without its fish-hooks but lambing late seems to help with survival and lambing problems,” Mr Murray said.

He had sold “quite a few lambs for hogget mating” and it had been “working really good” for his clients.

A client in the district had success on his first attempt at hogget lambing.

“Out of 180 lambs, he got 150 on the truck at 17.5kg, so if we can aim to do that, you’re starting to make some real money.”

When he started hogget lambing it was a “balls- up”.

“You’d have a good hogget and you’d pull the lamb out and it would wander away and be buggered but now our sheep have improved and I’ve become a bit of a convert.” Most of the improvements were due to providing quality feed to the hoggets.

“You can blame the ram all you like but if that hogget’s not there … ”

His system included lambing in mid-September and spreading fertiliser in November, in a bid to fatten the lambs and get them to the meatworks sooner.

“That seems to be working pretty good.” The Southdown traits he believed farmers should “protect at all costs” was its ability to mature early, thrive in tough weather conditions, the uniformity of the breed and its ease of lambing.

The first trait he looked for when selecting a ewe lamb was the condition of its feet and its ability to “stand up tall and strong”.

The second trait was its “head cover”, he said.

A topic of discussion was how much wool to remove from the head of a Southdown and when to do it to give it the best chance of survival.

A North Canterbury farmer on the tour said the first trait he looked for when selecting for improvements was the ability of a ewe to produce milk for her lambs.

Consequently, recording weaning weights was important to make future ewe selection decisions, he said.

Another topic Mr Murray raised for discussion was whether switching from conventional tagging to DNA tagging could increase lambing per centages.

If a twin or a triplet lamb was tagged conventionally, it could result in its mother abandoning it and impacting on survival rates.

“The ewes are doing better as I’m [conventional] tagging, but I am thinking quite seriously of doing DNA tagging.”

The only part of DNA tagging which “scares” him was upsetting any long-term clients by switching tagging method. “That makes me nervous,” Mr Murray said.

Club member John Macaulay, of Timaru, said he had been breeding Southdown sheep for more than 60 years and was on a tour of Riverside stud nine years ago.

“In those nine years you’ve improved out of sight, no doubt. You have some magnificent ewes.”

Other tour stops included the Lammermoor Stud in the Maniototo, Merrydowns stud in Waikoikoi, Lilliesleaf Stud in Waikaka, Aniwaniwa Stud in Pomahaka, Otepuni Stud in Invercargill and Mt Annan Stud in Waikoikoi.

The answer to Mr Keach’s brainteaser: the Mount Roskill Brass Band.

By Andrew Swallow

Big Money: This Clifton Downs Southdown ewe made $4400

A Southdown ewe fetched what breeders believe was a record price at a one-off auction during the breed society’s recent South Island tour.

The two-tooth from Chris and Shelley Medlicott’s Clifton Downs stud was bought for $4400 by central Canterbury breeder Andrew Christey and Gisborne’s Andrew Powdrell.

Christey said he wanted to introduce the ewe’s genetics to his Mapua stud flock at Southbridge and when he’d seen it and its twin at the Christchurch show he’d liked the phonotype too.

“I want her to produce rams that will work both commercially and stud-wise.

“Commercial rams are our bread and butter and her bloodlines are top-notch,” Christey said.

He and Powdrell agreed before the auction, conducted off-farm by PGG Wrightson at a lunch-stop on the tour, they would team-up to buy the ewe with Powdrell planning to take embryos for implantation in his Turiroa stud flock.

“There was no point us bidding against each other and it’s pleasing that the money will go to a good cause,” Christey noted, reflecting on auction proceeds going towards tour costs and research by the society.

Newly elected Southdown Sheep Society president Todd Armstrong dismissed the suggestion the donation aspect of the sale inflated the price.

“It was a genuine auction.

“We probably needed $1000 out of it for the tour. After that it was because the bidders genuinely wanted it.”

Happy Buyers. Andrew Powdrell and Andrew Christey were satisfied with their days work.

Another auction on the tour, held at John Macaulay’s Tahrua Stud, saw $2600 paid by Ian and Christina Jordan of Willowhaugh stud for a pick of a ewe lamb.

Again the proceeds went to the society.

“It was to raise funds to start investigating a combined approach to a recording scheme to benefit and involve all breeders,” Macauley said.

The work could help find the best genetics across the breed for traits such as growth, meat quality, cold tolerance and sound feet.

“We have to make things happen and continue to be proactive.

“The breed’s already renowned for its fast growth rate and number of lambs finished off their mothers and we need to keep building on that.”

Click to read article » The Wairoa Star Article – National SouthdownTour 2015