WITH five generations of farming history behind him, 27-year-old Alan Lintern felt the urge to put his own stamp on the family business and started his own Suffolk stud.
Seymour Vale Suffolks runs alongside a larger family business based at Tungkillo, comprising a 3000-ewe self-replacing Merino flock, 30-50 Santa Gertrudis stud breeders and a fledgling Border Leicester stud.
The operation, which also involves mother Mandy, brother Kevin and sister Jacqui, spans across 1010 hectares from Tungkillo to Mannum, plus a station in NSW.
But sheep breeding is the main passion for Mr Lintern, who started his Suffolk stud in 2016.
"I had always liked black Suffolks, and after a bit of research, really took an interest in their traits of good growth rates and early maturing," he said.
"They are becoming a popular breed for terminal sires, over both first-cross and Merino ewes.
"I have clients that are also putting them out with their Merino rams, for cashflow lambs, as they're easy to separate out at lamb marking."
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Mr Lintern started the flock by buying Urrbrae High School's entire 2015 ewe lamb drop of 16 head.
"I had previously seen Urrbrae's genetics at shows and liked their style of sheep," he said.
"I also liked that they were willing to offload the entire drop, not just the cull ewe lambs."
I like the more traditional style of Suffolk - big framed with plenty of meat.
- ALAN LINTERN
He has since added to the flock with ewes from "nearly every stud in SA, plus WA, Vic, and NSW", now totalling about 80 head.
"I really focus on the black point cut off, so the black fibre doesn't leech into the wool," he said.
"I'm also chasing figures, as that is what everyone wants these days.
"When I buy ewes and rams, I focus strongly on the figures. I also like them to be big, early maturing, with low birthweights."
Mr Lintern bought a Suffolk ram from Telpara this year with "really high figures" in the hope of improving his own.
The ram will back-up an AI program conducted for the first time on-farm, using Pine Ridge and Renrut bloodlines.
"I like the more traditional style of Suffolk - big framed with plenty of meat," he said.
He is excited to see the results of the program, which start dropping early next month.
Mr Lintern is also excited about the upcoming Royal Adelaide Show.
He has had a successful year showing so far, picking up supreme exhibit with a ewe at three shows already (Mannum, Mount Barker and Mount Pleasant).
"That ewe also won last year as a lamb at many shows," he said. "She'll stay within the flock."
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Mr Lintern was also preparing for their ram sale at Mount Pleasant saleyards in mid-October, when they will offer up 25 Suffolk stud rams, eight Border Leicester commercial rams and potentially 8-10 Suffolk ewe lambs.
"We were very happy with how the sale went last year and the Border Leicesters were very popular," he said.
"It has cemented our decision to start up a Border Leicester stud to breed first-cross ewes from."
The flock has yet to be registered, but already features Koonawarra, Belmont and Pebblestone bloodlines.
Mr Lintern said Neil Kroehn from Belmont, Springton, had been a great sounding board in some of his stud decisions.
One in the future may involve a sale day of his own, selling Suffolk and Border Leicester rams and ewes.
He has also gained a lot of experience as a past participant of the SA Junior Heifer Expo and the SA Sheep Expo.
In 2019, he won the Heiniger Scholarship at the SA Sheep Expo.
After becoming too old to compete, he joined the SA Sheep Expo Committee and also supplies sheep for participants.
This profile is part of Stock Journal's Studbreeders Under 30 to Watch series.
Alisha Fogden
Journalist at Australian Community Media newspapers since 2007.
Journalist at Australian Community Media newspapers since 2007.
