Curnamona Station held its 100th shearing this month, concreting its place in the rich farming history of the state's pastoral area.
Henry Lloyd Nutt acquired Curnamona in 1925 from Canowie Pastoral Company, which began the station in 1919.
Brothers Bruce and Lloyd Nutt presently own the 2000-square kilometre property located 80km north of Yunta.
Curnamona manager Jeff Pumpa said during his 20 years in the role, more than 400,000 sheep had gone up the race to be shorn.
"We usually run about 1000 Poll Hereford cattle and 24,000 Merino sheep but it has gone down because of the drought," he said.
"The shed has 13 stands and sheep come up through the middle of the woolshed and it's always been this way."
Jeff has managed stations for 40 years and says it is vital to SA's history that woolsheds "remain intact".
"As one of largest sheep operations in the area it is important we try to keep the history alive," he said.
"These shearing sheds are very important to not just SA history but also to Australia's, there is a lot of our history tied up in shearing sheds that is not a part of any other country's history in the world."
But maintaining these woolsheds is not an easy task. After a massive hailstorm and the weight of almost half a million sheep, Curnomona has required a new roof and floor rebuild in the past 25 years.
Maintenance is key to a shearing shed's survival, Jeff says.
"Because of our landscape, the sheep bring a lot of dirt in and about 10 years ago it reached more than 1m deep under the grating," he said.
"Cleaning that out was a major chore.
"There is constant maintenance because of white ants, the wind blowing sheets of iron off the roof - a woolshed declines in condition very quickly if you do not stay on top of maintenance."
During shearing, about 28 staff are on deck and this year also marked Curnamona's 46th year of providing training for the industry's future shearers.
"We also have about five trainers on board during shearing because we employ learners and improvers through tafeSA," Jeff said.
If Curnamona woolshed had to be rebuilt today, it would cost more than a quarter of a million dollars.
- JEFF PUMPA
"From shearers to wool handlers, we have it all happening at shearing."
Jeff believed training new shearers at Curnamona provided a learning environment that could "prepare learners for anything".
"I think new, up and coming shearers would think it was a privilege to shear at an iconic woolshed," he said.
Jeff thought there had been a decline in the traditional shearing sheds lining SA's farming districts.
"It pays to keep them going," he said.
"If Curnamona woolshed had to rebuilt today, it would cost more than a quarter of a million dollars."
