Of the 11 years the competition has been running, the Crokers have placed in the top five positions 10 times.

This year, they notched up a second win with their Thalabah-blood ewes, signalling their aims for their Merino flock have been validated.

Mr Croker, who presented a draft of 310 ewes, said he doesn’t believe he has the perfect flock, but is confident he is heading in the right direction.

“We haven’t got the perfect sheep, I don’t think there is such a thing,” he said.

“But where the current markets are, we are running a pretty good dual purpose type sheep that will have good carcase weight for meat production and for wether production we are able to get them off at a reasonable age and still cut a good fleece of wool.”

He said the rams selected at Thalabah stud, Laggan, have been different types over the years.

“I’m getting good carcase weights and the grown sheep are consistently cutting 6.5 to seven kilograms, with this year’s ewes cutting over seven kilos,” Mr Croker said.

“The wethers that we sell as two-year-olds, after shearing dressed 29.5kg on average and cut 6.5kg.

“People are looking for a dual purpose sheep, but a think I am already in that frame.”

Jim Williams, Thalabah stud, has helped Mr Croker class his sheep for the last six years.

“The quality of the wool has improved through the help of Jim classing the sheep,” Mr Croker said.

“There is probably only two or three per cent that he would take out more than me but that is enough to tighten the flock up.”

“He can recognise if there is a certain trait we need to keep an eye on, whether it be in the wool or the structure of the sheep.

“He takes those borderline sheep out, which then go into first cross production.

“They might be cutting a good quantity of wool, but it may not be the type of wool I want to breed on with for the future of the flock.

“It also gives good feedback on the way their (Thalabah) rams are going.”

Competition judges, Brett Picker, Hillcreston Heights, Bigga and Warwick Kopp, Towalba stud, Peak Hill, said Mr Croker’s ewes were “well structured, dense heavy cutters”.

Mr Croker said the comments gave him a bit more confidence that he is taking his sheep in the right direction.

“Our wool is bright, it is cutting 100 millimetres and the density is good; they are cutting about 20-micron fibre diameter,” he said.

“In my opinion 20-micron is needed on our farm because of the cold climate that we are in.

“If I went into a finer type sheep here I think I would run into problems with colder weather.

“It would be harder to get those lambs started and to maintain them.”

The Crokers run about 1500 ewes with 1000 going back into their self-replacing Merino enterprise and the remainder are joined to Border Leicesters for their first-cross production.

Another 400 one-and a half to two-year-old wethers are also part of the operation.

Running a mixed livestock enterprise of 70 per cent sheep and 30 per cent Hereford cattle, Mr Croker said they have found the right stocking rate for their properties.

Their flock is distributed over the Croker’s three properties at Golspie: the 162 hectare “Ayrston”, 405ha at “Brooklands” and an additional 283ha at “Kings”.

Shearing takes place in May, with lambing from August to September.

“Each year we scan the ewes post shearing and those that aren’t in lamb to Merinos, and if they are young enough and viable for wool production, will be run dry for 12 months and then the next year they are joined to Border Leicesters,” Mr Croker said.  

“Anything that is not in lamb in the first-cross production is sold.”

The Merino wethers are kept to just over two-years-of-age and then they are sold either to a re-stocker or for meat production.

“Specifically in our sheep we are looking for a large framed sheep with quick growth rates and a good quantity of wool,” he said.

“The ewe’s wool cut this year averaged over seven kilos with fleece lines averaging 73 per cent.”

Mr Croker believes to improve on your flock the increments are slow in your genetics.

“You can only get to s certain level before it tappers off and things are slower to happen,” he said.  

“I am trying to increase the size of the animal and the weight of the wool as I go.”

He said the kilos per hectare are the most important thing you can have on a farm.

“If you can increase your wool cut by a kilo over a five year period it is like running an extra sheep for five years,” he said.

“You are increasing the actual carrying capacity of your place without putting more sheep on.

“That is what my goal is – to keep increasing that production without having to put more mouths on.”

Mr Croker has a long-term plan, one that he plans to stick to.

“I’m not chasing micron,” he said.

“I have a lifetime plan that needs tweaking every now and then.

“If you try to change too many things at once you can end up losing a lot of good traits that you already have.”