They see the benefits in their bank accounts.
The owners of the 40,000ha Mount Nicholas Station, near Lake Wanaka, say supplying merino wool under contract has benefited them by hundreds of thousands of dollars over and above prices from the auction system.
Mr Butson recently hosted the launch by Novartis Animal Health of its new sheep drench and told media that this year his two largest contracts were 85,000kg of wool to Icebreaker and 15,000kg to John Smedley.
Previously, he sold on the spot market.
But with the arrival of tThe New Zealand Merino Company to arrange and negotiate contracts, the Butsons now sold 95% of their clip under contract.
"It's been our saving," he said.
The couple run 27,000 merino sheep, with an average micron of 18.5, and 2500 Hereford cows.