George grew up on a horse stud in Wainuioru called Little Avondale. His passion was always stock and dogs, so shepherding at age 16 was a natural progression. He worked in the Wairarapa initially, doing his time at Wairere and on other properties, and then headed to the South Island for a few years, working on high country stations. After a stint overseas, he came home with the burning desire to own his own farm.
George Williams
Luce grew up on Grassendale with her three sisters, went on to study Physiotherapy and then Veterinary Physio in the UK. Her passion was horses and she had a genuine love of the farm too. She joined George in his pursuit of farm ownership!
Luce Williams
Williams Family
"Mt Wendon Station, consisting of 1920 hectares Southland tussock hill country. With only 400ha grass, 1000 ha native tussock and 500ha of native beach. Running approximately 5000 mixed aged Romney sheep, 1400 Hoggets and 225 Angus/Hereford cows. We are 3rd & 4th Generation on the family farm.
We believe Grassendale Genetics has taken the Romney Ram Stud to another level all together. The selection processes they use, have allowed us to gain excellent performance from our ewe flock: 190% scanning mixed age, 183% Two Tooths. We have also challenged ourselves by closing down our annual store sale, which ran for 42 years, and now our focus has been achieving the Fat Lamb price not Store Lamb Price. Our first weaning last year resulted in 25% of our lambs being sent to the works straight away, a great bench mark for future growth.
The rams we get to select, we believe are second to none. The biggest influence that we can contribute to our farm is through genetics, Grassendale Rams have proven to deliver outstanding results, future-proofing us for the next generation.
For the last five years we have been using Grassendale Genetics and have been impressed with the results. Grassendale Genetics have added real value to our business, through our consistently high scanning and survival rates.
We pride ourselves on being the fifth generation to farm our Property and are aware that in order for the farm to be in a good position for the future we need to be continually developing and working with like-minded businesses. George and Luce are continually looking to evolve their genetics, are at the forefront of the industry, and are a great fit for our business."
Steve & Steph Hastie
Mt Wendon Station, Southland
"Our business mates 6000 ewes and 1100 hoggets, which we switched to Grassendale Genetics from a composite breed seven years ago. We use the Coopworths as a half cross with Romneys for hybrid vigour and to keep fertility high especially in the hoggets and two tooths.
We find George and Luce’s sheep to be a type with good depth, great feet and fantastic constitution. We enjoy seeing Grassendale Stud ewes in the commercial environment with the commercial flock when we preganancy scan them in June. They really hold there own in fertility and condition on the hard Grassendale hill country in large mobs.
We really look forward to watching George and Luce continue to improve their flock over the coming years, We’re confident there is yet more production to come from this type of sheep, under Grassendale Genetics’ management."
Dan & Pip Edmonds
Wairarapa