WILLIAMS, Western Australia, wool grower and Navanvale stud co-principal Mitch Hogg is a young up-and-comer on WA's Merino scene.
With sheep and wool production as the lifeblood of the small Great Southern highway town he calls home, Mr Hogg and his family are passionate about bettering the Merino breed and showcasing all the WA industry has to offer.
This year, Navanvale will do just that at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show held in Bendigo.
The Hoggs will exhibit a two year-old ewe and ram pair which qualified for the Bendigo competition thanks to yet another WA State pair win at this year's Make Smoking History Wagin Woolorama in WA.
Navanvale stud also took out the Wagin title in 2014 but due to unfortunate circumstances, didn't enter the pair competition at Bendigo in the same year.
However, the stud did manage to come away from Bendigo with a couple of honours, including the Grand champion March shorn sheep of the show which was awarded to a standout ram that later sold at the annual Rabobank Katanning Sheep Show and Sale, WA, for $16,250.
In the lead up to this year's Bendigo competition, the WA State pair judging came down to the Navanvale pair and a duo from Claypans Poll Merino stud, Corrigin, WA.
"It was the purity of our sheep which got them over the line and they were also fairly evenly matched," Mr Hogg said.
"The ram was ET bred from the sire Roseville Park 46 and was out of 3410 which is the best breeding ewe at Navanvale at the moment.
"That ewe also bred Frank which won the supreme exhibit ribbon at the Wagin Woolorama last year."
The ewe within the pair that will feature at this year's Bendigo sheep and wool show was also ET bred and is structurally very good with soft handling medium wool -- just like the ram.
But Mr Hogg is just as passionate about his flock outside of the display arena.
In March he was nominated and elected to the WA Merino Breeders' Association State committee and in 2012 attended the biannual AWI Breeding Leadership course in Clare, South Australia.
Relatively new to the stud game, the Hogg family's flock was initially registered in 1998 by Mr Hogg's parents Chris and Jackie.
"Dad made the move from being a 100 per cent commercial cocky thanks to his love of sheep," Mr Hogg said.
"It was prompted by the dispersal of our wool classer's Cheviot Hills stud flock of which we bought half the breeding ewes and things just grew from there."
Navanvale's initial bloodlines were Peppin-based and the Hogg family has since introduced Roseville Park, Woodyarrup and Wallaloo Park genetics to bolster the flock to the point where it was able to start showing its sheep about 10 years ago.
So what's it like being a relatively new entrant to a pastime that's usually steeped in family history and tradition?
"It's a challenge because as we all know, it's hard to breed good sheep," Mr Hogg said.
"It sucks me in."
Mr Hogg runs about 5500 sheep through summer of which about 3000 are stud and commercial breeding ewes.
Not satisfied with buying rams from an outside source, he aims to breed well-nourished, white woolled sheep with a medium to large constitution that carry wool which handles rainfall.
The Navanvale flock's yearly wool clip averages about 19.5 micron and 69-70 per cent yield while the average adult sheep cuts about seven kilograms of fleece.
"The state of current wool price,s and their climbing in the last month to six weeks, has left producers feeling rewarded for being involved in the industry," Mr Hogg said.
"Hopefully prices will be maintained so that wool growers continue to see a significant future for the Merino breed."
Mr Hogg's experience in representing the west in the Merino arena has opened his eyes to the strengths of the WA sheep and wool industry.
"The competition is always strong and we're all in it for the right reasons," he said.
"The size and quality of WA sheep are always exceptional and there's plenty of opportunity for growth and development throughout the industry."
Mr Hogg's previous involvement in the Bendigo show has also provided plenty of opportunities for his own stud business including promotion and the initiation of semen sales nationally and abroad.
"It also allowed me the opportunity to benchmark my own ewes and rams against other studs throughout the country," he said.
In the future Mr Hogg and his family hope to expand their stud ewe numbers even further to create more choice for their loyal clients at the annual Williams Stud Breeders Association two-tooth ram sale.
"Perhaps an on-farm sale might be achievable," Mitch said.
"Navanvale's future direction and genetic selection is in our own hands."
