WITH 109 entries, the All Purpose Merino classes easily accounted for the largest pool of rams vying for one ribbon at the Show – and the finish was nail biting.
It was a young Terrick West ram that hadn't yet broken its first permanent teeth who rose to be the cream of the crop.
The ram scored 80.7 points from a range of visual and objective scores by carcase judge N Linden and wool judge and competition organiser Phil Toland, Toland Poll Merino, Violet Town.
"This has proven the closest and probably the finest group we've had so far," Mr Toland said.
"What the results show is how versatile the Merino really is."
"To win this competition you have to have a balanced sheep – we're really looking for the perfect sheep here – and the Terrick West ram is very close to it.
"The winning ram was a May 2014-drop by Willandra Desmond, who won the competition two years ago.
The ram – which Terrick West principal Ross McGauchie, Prairie, said had only been on feed since mid-April – weighed 115 kilograms, had an eye muscle area scan of 40 millimetres and a fat scan of 8.5mm.In the wool it measured 19-micron with a 2.5M standard deviation, 13.2 coefficient of variation and 99.9 per cent comfort factor.
The wool was noted by Mr Toland to be lustrous and crimpy with a curvature score of 47.
Mr McGauchie was "beyond thrilled" with the result, and said the ram would be for sale at the Adelaide Show later this year.
