Usually husband and wife stud breeders Julia and Stewart Eden, from Riversdale, make the long journey with their 16-year-old twins Jake and Ebony.
There was an absentee during the eight-hour drive this week, with Mrs Eden taking a flight as a result of work commitments.
"Normally it’s all of us. We own our own stock truck and Stewart used to be a commercial driver, so he left our place at 5am on Monday and has his compulsory stops and keeps on coming to be here by 2pm."
Then it is three days spent in and out of the cattle ring.
They have supported the event through thick and thin, including last year’s slimmed down show after funding problems nearly caused it to be cancelled and previously when bovine tuberculosis was a threat.
About 20 breeding cows and half a dozen yearling heifers and a main sire bull for the cows are on their 25ha property and they lease another 25ha.
Mrs Eden said they would not miss the show, as it was the benchmark for any cattle breeder.
"We have also made some good friends and used to dairy, so it was always good to get away for a week to get off farm. ... The best of the best come here and it’s your benchmark. You know if your breeding’s good or if you have missed a step with your breeding, but we have made lifelong friends here in the beef and the dairy we see once a year and that keeps us coming."
An extra drawcard was wanting to carry on the family tradition of exhibiting cattle in Christchurch, as their twin children had grown up with other good friends since first attending the show as 2-year-olds, she said.
"The kids are 16 now and Jake has finished his year 12 and he is shepherding at Argyle Station this summer and then goes to Telford next year. So, it’s pretty much his last year. Ebony is going back for Year 13, so she wants to come up next year, but for Jake it could be his last year."
The Edens had an inkling the five South Devons they brought up might find the competition tough.
"It’s been hard at home. We had a cold, cold dry winter and then it got really wet and stayed cold and then of course the storm came through. It’s been really hard on the stock, so we came exactly where I thought we would come. I knew we were going to get beaten."
Previous best results were winning the Junior Meat & Wool Cup for the best young beef cattle of any breed in 2019 and 2021.
The golden run can be traced to a line of females from embryos imported from Australia, which they call the N family as their names all start with N.
"The branch of the family looks the same, are consistent, they are fertile, early maturing and their progeny we don’t keep are 15-18 months-old cattle off to the works depending on how we go home. They are heavyweights and just everything you need. And that’s what we like to breed."
At one stage they had pedigree North American Holsteins.
They found the South Devons complemented the herd of 280 dairy cows, with the home-bred beef sires put over the herd after a run of artificial insemination in a self contained system.
This worked well as the dairy cows were pickier eaters and the beef animals would clean up after them and fill in dairying’s cashflow dip in December to January as they were ready to go to the works.
In 2013 they transitioned from Dexters to South Devons after looking long and hard at the breed and liking what they saw.
"I am originally from Devon in the UK, so there was a pull there and they are gentle giants, so we really liked the temperament of the animals. They are fantastic to work with. You walk into the paddock and the next thing you have this group of animals all around you."
