Lambs had been arriving later on 470ha Foulden Hill sheep and beef farm in Middlemarch for the past five years.
A driver of the decision was due to the "memories" of several past springs, automatically appearing on his smartphone.
The digital memories included "significant moisture" at the start of September, snowstorms at the end of September and adverse weather events at Labour Weekend.
About five years ago, Suffolk lambs would begin arriving from the end of August and Merino lambs from the end of September.
Those lambing dates were selected because it was what everyone in the district was doing, putting their terminal sire rams out from the end of March in a bid to get as many lambs on a truck before Christmas.
However, the adverse spring weather events were impacting the flock’s potential.
"We were getting belted."
Now the rams were put out later, Suffolk lambs arriving from September 15 and merinos lambs arriving from October 20.
Up to 10cm of snow settled in Foulden Hill on Labour Weekend this year and some newborn lambs died.
A silver lining was the snow providing nearly 30mm of moisture.
"It was a timely amount of moisture."
He was not considering putting the rams out any later, as the lambs weaning date had stayed the same despite their later arrival.
If lambing was pushed out any further, there was a risk of there being no feed available due to hotter weather.
Strong wind had featured consistently on Foulden Hill this spring but not on October 23, when it caused widespread damage across the South.
"That was one of the calmest days we’ve had for quite some time."
Foulden Hill Genetics would hold its inaugural ram auction on-farm in Middlemarch on December 11.
Mr Gibson liked to put all of his rams under pressure, so he could select the best performers to put up for sale.
The sale rams were selected by testing potential sires including exposing them to a worm burden, so those that did not handle the challenge were dropped.
"You manage them negatively for a while to make sure the good ones come through positively, which has been a big shift in mindset."
The usual mindset on farm had been to have all of the livestock on Foulden Hill to be in the best condition possible at all times, he said.
His parents, Anton and Liz Gibson, began selling rams by private treaty on Foulden Hill since 2009, after moving from the Hakataramea Valley.
The family also sold rams at fairs in Christchurch and Gore.
Now all rams, about 80 this year, a mix of Suffolk, Suftex and White Suffolk, would be sold by Helmsman auction.
The White Suffolk rams were the drawcard of the sale, Will said.
"I think they have a huge amount to offer."
White Suffolk rams were the most popular sire choice in Australia, he said.
The biggest challenge to selling White Suffolks might be farmers wanting a terminal sire with a blackface, a marker making it easier to identify.
"For a lot of people that is a big hang up."
He hoped farmers would look beyond the ease of identification and look at the traits of the White Suffolk breed.
The white terminal sire was bred in Australia by crossing a Poll Dorset and a Suffolk.
In his role as a consultant with NextGen Agri, he had visited top studs running the breed in Australia.
He established his White Suffolk flock by buying semen from Australia and purebred ewes from Motueka.
"I’m real excited where we are at."
There was positivity in the sheep industry at the moment, he said.
Although the national flock size was getting smaller, those farmers remaining in the game were looking to grow the best sheep possible.
Mr Gibson’s wife Bridget agreed.
The dwindling sheep population presented an opportunity for those farmers left in the industry.
"They are the one’s wanting to do better and produce a higher-quality product," Bridget said.
