The Victorian city of Bendigo is 640 kilometres away, but that didn’t stop a committed group of sheep and wool producers from the Crookwell region making their way to the largest sheep and wool show in Australia to compete against the best in the industry.
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Every July the Australian Sheep and Wool Show (ASWS) is held at the Bendigo Showgrounds, attracting over 2700 sheep and goats from 400 breeders across 32 breeds, and everything else that comes along with them.
This year, the Frost family of Hillden Poll Dorset stud, Bannister, headed the local line-up, coming home with the supreme exhibit of the Poll Dorset breed after exhibiting the champion Poll Dorset ram.
The June 2016-drop ram, Hillden 410-16, came through from the ram under one and a half class, born after June 1, and was described by judge Mark Yates, Barwon Poll Dorsets, Yerong Creek, as having plenty of eye muscle and fat cover with a good spring of rib.
Hillden 410-16 is by Tattykeel 70 and out of a Hillden stud ewe 866-11, who has bred a number of influential Hillden stud sires.
The Bendigo supreme is a full brother to last year’s supreme champion at Melbourne Royal Show, Hillden 499-15, and full brother to Hillden 400-14, which was supreme champion at Crookwell and Gundagai shows.
Hillden 410 will now head to the Australasian Dorset Championships in September where he will again be placed on the sheep mats before being put up for auction.
The Frost family also won the group of three rams, their third claim of the title in four years, ram born after April 1 in wool, as well as being awarded the most successful Poll Dorset exhibitor.
Talkook Border Leicester stud, Crookwell, owned and operated by the Anderson family, won the Border Leicester ram objective measurement (OM) class under one and a half years with Talkook Arena.
Arena went on to be named the overall winner in the long wool British breeds objective measurement in the interbreed competition.
The July 2016-drop Arena, by Talkook Mountain 28-2014 and out of Talkook Jayne 38-2014, weighed 95.5 kilograms.
Last year local Merino breeders, Paul and Margy Seaman, “Rosemont”, Crookwell, for the first time in the history of the Australian Fleece Competition, won the grand champion title with a commercial fleece – succeeding stud competitors.
They described themselves as being “famous for a day” and admit they set a high bar for themselves for the future. But they must be doing something right at “Rosemont” because their efforts were validated.
The national fleece competition has six major prizes. Five of those top prizes went to Tasmanian breeders –three commercial and two stud operations.
In sixth place came “Rosemont”– the only mainland breeder to win a top prize.
The Seaman’s won most successful exhibitor with two firsts, one second and a fourth out of the four fleeces they entered.
Some of the best shearers were in action in the Victorian state shearing championships.
Making his mark was 20 year-old Sam Picker of “Hillcreston”, Bigga, who came home with some impressive titles under his belt.
Sam initially entered the intermediate shearing competition, which he won, before he re-entered in the senior competition and placed an extremely credible fourth.