Breeders honour Button

As a former president and vice-president of the association, the Ramsay Park stud principal has devoted countless hours to the association across the course of a decade.

Peter's impact on the sheep industry was formally recognised when he was presented with his life membership by Australian White Suffolk Association federal council president Anthony Hurst, Seriston, Avenue Range, at stage one of the Ramsay Park's dispersal sale in November.

Anthony said it was the "right timing" to honour such an influential breeder.

"It was a good way of saying thanks for your time and service. Peter has made significant sacrifices to help lead the breed in SA and he deserved to be awarded the life membership honour," he said.

"Being a part of the association is a voluntary commitment and it was something that Peter has taken on as fiercely as his sheep breeding. Other members have been lucky to have his guidance."

Marketing the breed to the wider industry was Peter's specialty, Anthony said, and his success in this area would be long-lasting.

"Every breed has its strong points but Peter was able to help lead the White Suffolk breed to the top for disease management," he said.

Four years ago, Peter spearheaded a campaign to make ovine brucellosis accreditation mandatory for registered White Suffolk stud breeders.

"We are the only sheep breed in Australia to make it mandatory and Peter had a lot to do with that - he saw it as a way to secure the breed's reputation and longevity," Anthony said.

"The effect on ram fertility is devastating and causes an extreme drop in lambing percentages. Most studs in Australia check for the disease in male progeny every two years but a lot can happen in two years."

Despite Peter's road to retirement beginning this year, Anthony believed his legacy would continue.

"Peter was blessed with an ability to adopt new technology to breed the style of sheep required by the market but also remain true to his breeding aims at the same time," he said.

"His modern sheep are in demand from studs across the country. The work he put into breeding will be noticed in studs for many years."

Peter was "blown away" by the life membership honour.

"I had no idea and it was such a surprise. Having the whole family at the sale when I received it was really special," he said.

"The time I have been involved with the breed and association has been instrumental in my life.

"I do feel a bit out of place being put alongside the names that began the breed but that is an honour in itself."

Peter and his wife Julie began Ramsay Park stud in 1997 - essentially because his children wanted some sheep. They were already breeding Hampshire Downs but when a wool boom hit in the 1980s, "black tip sheep" were no longer desirable, and a switch to Poll Dorsets was made.

"The children did not like the sheep we were breeding, so we went to a local stud and bought mated White Suffolk ewes - the rest is history," he said.

"It was a natural evolution too but we never would have looked at the breed if it was not for the children."

Peter said the breed's popularity "took off" in SA and as the industry began to change its breeding goals, White Suffolks "fit the bill".

"We did not realise how strong the breed was to become, but from the early stages we felt camaraderie within the breed - that was a big part for us, being a young family at the time," he said.

Peter is a self-confessed "old school" sheep breeder and keeping up with the latest technology was daunting at first.

"It was clear that if I did not adopt the new technology that was becoming available, I would have been left behind," he said.

But, this did not mean Peter was going to abandon his long-held value of striving for balance in sheep breeding and the running of his stud.

"The younger generations hang off every word when it comes to technology, it is easy to get caught up in it," he said.

"But, if the technology does not suit what I am trying to achieve in the stud, I will not adopt it."

Peter believed the main challenge for breeders was achieving a balance in producing sheep suitable for the show ring and the paddock.

"I have never sourced genetics on show wins or just genetic history - it is a balance and I have never strayed from that," he said.

But, the stud has received plenty recognition in the show ring, and in 2017, Ramsay Park claimed the supreme White Suffolk exhibit title at the Royal Adelaide Show.

As Peter reflected on his time in the sheep industry, he said changes in lamb production specifications were one of the biggest impacts on his stud.

"When the export lamb industry boom happened, producers had to begin producing large-framed sheep that produced a lamb with meat in the right places almost overnight," he said.

"It was a big deal but the breed achieved it."

Peter will hold a final dispersal sale in September next year to mark the end of his White Suffolk breeding days.

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