The Calcookara property is nestled in the Cowell Hills on the Eastern Eyre Peninsula in very undulating country with 400mm annual rainfall. We also own land down on the Cowell Flats with only 275mm annual rainfall.
The Calcookara property was purchased by Ern Smith in 1906. In 1912 he founded the Calcookara Stud and it is recorded that the first rams sold were in 1917. The property has been passed down through four generations currently seeing Brenton & Jane Smith now running the stud on the original Calcookara property.
The Stud started on Canowie bloodlines then was Collinsville-based until the mid 1990’s when we infused rams from Roseville Park to improve and whiten our wools, which worked beyond our expectations. In the year 2000 we decided to employ Bill Walker as our stud classer and continue to work closely with Bill to better our genetics. We have since had infusions from studs such as Wallaloo Park, Leahcim, Ridgway Advance, Gunallo, Coddington Poll and Glenlea Park.
We have continued to source high quality genetics from around Australia as we continue to improve the quality of our rams that are produced for our clients.
We are focussed on a medium to large, plain, easy care, highly fertile animal with extremely white, deeply crimped 18-19 micron fleece, which are paddock-run to allow the quality of the genetics to shine through.
Since 2016 we have been shearing every 6 months and are heavily focussed on producing genetics to suit this growing trend. 2017 saw us join Sheep Genetics to help us breed a more predictable animal.
We take great pride in seeing our clients’ flocks performing well and being rewarded for their good management.
Calcookara’s annual ram sale is currently held on the Thursday 1 week prior to the commencement of the Royal Adelaide Show. A further draft of young rams are available in September/October by appointment.
We offer free hogget classing and ram delivery for our clients in South Australia.
This year’s Inspection Day is Thursday, 10th August 2023 from 1pm – 4pm.
The upcoming 2022 Ram Sale date is Thursday, 17th August 2023
Calcookara Stud 