For the second year running a White Dorper lamb bred by Nigel Greenaway, Beazley’s Bridge, hung up the best in the Geelong Show carcase competition, with many observers remarking there were few better carcases they had seen on the hooks.
The 12 week old lamb weighed in at 24.7 kilograms, and received 90 of the possible 100 points from judges.
Nigel Greenaway was represented at the show by his parents Bruce and Dorothy, who said their son joined White Dorper rams from Rangelands stud via St Arnaud to about 1600 White Dorper second-cross ewes.
Bruce Greenaway said he fed his prime lambs mostly on Lucerne and clover, because the sheep “just don’t do on grain.”
“Pasture is the natural feed for cattle and sheep, it makes a huge difference,” he said.
The family had entered the competition to learn more about producing high quality terminal lambs, he said.
Three of the Greenaway’s lightweight lambs won the Fred Herd trophy for the best pen of lambs between 16-19.9kg, which then went on to win the Coles Class best pen of three lambs on the hoof.
White Suffolks also scored well on the day, with exhibitors of the breed Robert Quayle and Karen and Jack Briscoe winning 11 of 18 the top place ribbons available.
Mr and Mrs Briscoe went on to be the most successful exhibitors of the event, while their daughter Nicole also managed to take home a handful of ribbons.
The top score of the day went to a line of three Texels entered by the Jorgensen family, Mertex Texels, Antwerp, which clocked up 93.5/100 points in the 20-23.9kg class on the hooks.
The same entry started the day well, winning the mid-weight class on the hoof, before going on to win the Coles Class best pen of lambs on hook.
No in its 53rd year, it was the first that Poll Dorsets had been absent, however three new exhibitors had joined the competition, with judges deliberating over a total of 117 entries.
*Full results in this week's Stock & Land.