Sam purchased 365 acres in Hensley Park, South West Victoria in 2017 after growing up on his family farm, Rockbank, in Victoria Valley. After growing up around a super fine merino stud, Sam had a passion for fine wool and wool growing which led him to become a professional wool classer for eight years off farm. Sam also worked part-time on other commercial and stud prime lamb farms before deciding he wanted to take the next step and purchased some land with the aim of creating a unique dual-purpose merino that had the ability to be run at high stocking rates whilst producing high meat production as well as maintaining a next to skin premium fleece value.

When Rockbank South was purchased, it only had seven main paddocks. Since then, Sam has subdivided the block into 27 paddocks ranging from two – eight hectares. This has allowed him to increase his stocking rate through the use of better pasture management from an average of 8DSE to 15DSE as a yearly stocking rate and topping out at 25-30DSE in mid-Winter to early Spring. Sam has invested heavily into his grazing system by lifting his average Olsen P from 6 to 16 and establishing perennial pastures across 60% of the farm whilst using the other 40% of the farm in annual crop production (e.g. silage/hay and summer forage). 

Sam has had a commitment to improving welfare standards, with the ceasing of mulesing in 2018 and the reduction of mob size at lambing with twins lambing in mobs of 20-40 and singles lambing in mobs of 50-100 with this allowing us to get our fetus conversion to the mid 80% realizing an ability to wean 115-130% of lambs to ewes joined.