Ashley Dowden is a fifth-generation pastoralist who, until late 2025, owned and operated Challa Station in Western Australia’s Southern Rangelands, where his family had run livestock since 1888. Over more than three decades at Challa, Ashley and his wife Debbie transformed the property from a Merino sheep station into a 200,000-hectare Santa Gertrudis beef enterprise incorporating a Human Induced Regeneration (HIR) carbon project, built on conservative stocking and careful land stewardship.

Following the sale of Challa Station in 2025, Ashley and Debbie have deliberately downsized their operations to focus on a more intensive cattle enterprise at Gingin in Western Australia’s West Midlands, where they run a finishing property for pasture-based beef production. This shift reflects their desire to maintain a strong connection to agriculture while pursuing a more sustainable workload and lifestyle closer to services and markets.

PGA Roles

• Active member of the PGA for more than 30 years, joining the Executive in 1991 as Chair of the South East Murchison Division.
• Currently serves as Vice President of the PGA, advocating for secure property rights, practical regulation and recognition of the pastoral and grazing sector’s contribution to Western Australia’s economy.
• From 2016 to 2021, served on the Pastoral Lands Board, championing ecologically sustainable management of the pastoral estate and policy settings that enabled HIR carbon projects on pastoral leases.
• Recognised for long-term leadership in the fight against wild dogs across the Southern Rangelands.