Irvine’s final front line ram sale

After more than 30 years, hosts of the Front Line Ram Sale are preparing for their final studs to go up for auction.

Brightwater’s well-known stud sheep farmers, Malcolm and Donna Irvine, will host their 31st and final sale on 8 December.

The Irvines have been sheep farming in Brightwater for 63 years, but say it’s now time to close the gate on their farming life. Forty of those years have been in the Wairoa Gorge, and 23 at their current Clover Rd farm.

Through that time the couple have built a reputation as high-quality sheep breeders.

“When we started breeding rams it was mainly Romney with a few Blackface,” Malcolm says. “Now it’s nearly all Blackface with a few Romneys, the demand has changed.”

The Front Line Ram Sale started 31 years ago when four sheep breeders came together to sell their rams.

They had been put through a vigorous selection process before ultimately being put up for sale.

The sale was initially held in a woolshed in Eighty Eight Valley, Wakefield.

Over the years, the other breeders involved in the sale slowly ceased breeding rams. So, from around 2009 the Irvines went solo and started hosting their own Front Line Ram Sale at their Clover Rd farm, which is where the sale has been hosted for the past 13 years.

A lot has changed since the first sale, and more recently the increased cost of irrigated water has impacted Malcolm’s sheep farming operation.

“The driving factor to call an end to it now is the cost of irrigated water, which has been driven up by the cost of building the Waimea Community Dam,” Malcolm says.

“I was in favour of the dam, if the dam didn’t go ahead more restrictions on irrigating would have seen local market gardeners and growers leave the district,” he says. “However, the cost of the dam increasing significantly since it was initially planned has made my sheep operation uneconomic.”

With the increased irrigating costs, coupled with price rises across the board, Malcolm says that the land needs higher-value crops on it to remain a viable business.

It’s not all doom and gloom, as the farm is soon to be leased which means Malcolm and Donna can continue to live on the property and enjoy looking out over the paddocks that they have tended for decades.

In typical Kiwi farmer fashion, Malcolm explains that he has been able to lease the farm in such a way that he will still be able to enjoy running a small flock of stud sheep while working towards full retirement.

“I’m relieved to have the farm leased and excited at the fact that I can still run a small-scale stud breeding operation while I wean myself off the stud farm completely,” he laughs.

The final sale is on 8 December, 1.30pm at 80 Clover Rd East.