The couple offered about 4000 sheep at their inaugural sale on their 6000ha sheep, beef and deer property, Matarae Station, in Shannon, about 15km south of Middlemarch.
Mr Jones said they usually tried to fatten all their livestock but a spell of hard frosts and snow had spurred a decision to "lighten the load" and hold the sale.
"We’ve had a month of cold southerlies, no growth and if we are going to get a month of dry norwest winds, we’d probably be under pressure to get them fat before they cut their teeth."
High prices for fine wool sheep at Temuka Saleyards helped make the decision to hold a sale.
All the sheep on offer at Matarae Station sold last week.
Nearly 1000 half-bred and quarter-bred wether lambs sold for between $181 and $248 per head.
More than 1400 merino wether lambs sold for between $136 and $198 each.
Nearly 270 merino ewe lambs sold for between $116 and $141 per head.
About 500 Romney ewes, age 5 or 6, and their lambs at foot sold for about $130 each.
The lambs were the progeny of either a Suffolk or Southdown ram.
At that price, a ewe with twins fetched $390, Mr Jones said.
He was happy with the average price paid for his sheep.
The sale prices still left a margin for the buyers.
"We don’t want people to invest and then lose money. Breeders want to be rewarded for good breeding stock and finishers need to make a margin and they’ll be back."
Waihemo Downs owner Scott Tomlinson, of Dunback, bought about 750 merino wether lambs at the sale.
"I think I bid on every pen. I would have liked some half-breds but I’m happy with merinos. I got a unit load. If they were cheap enough I would have got a couple of unit loads but there was a bit of competition today."
He had begun sending away his crossbred lambs for slaughter and the merino wether lambs would replace them, be fattened and put on a truck to the meatworks in December.
He sold some dry Romney ewe hoggets to make room for more quarter-bred.
A neighbouring property was added to Matarae Station about four years ago.
As the block was tucked under the Rock and Pillar Range, it was wetter than other parts of Matarae Station
The purchase of the new block included a flock of Perendale sheep, which "weren’t doing that great" in wet conditions.
"We thought the quarter-bred would be a bit tougher up the mountain."
Quarter-breds would be better at handling any worm burden or feet problems and produce more valuable wool than the Perendales.
"It came out of Covid and picked up quite quickly again."
The system on Matarae Station ensured they ran livestock classes they were able to sell if tough farming conditions began to bite.
"We try to pull the trigger early."
Mrs Jones said her husband was good at knowing when to make a decision and living with it.
The Joneses said every season was different but as there were fewer lambs available due to land-use changes, if the strong demand for sheep continued, they would hold another on-farm sale next year.
