Allendale stud has dominated the interbreed judging, winning both supreme ewe and ram with two different breeds at the Royal Melbourne Show.
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The Bordertown, South Australia, stud’s Suffolk ram was a clear favourite, receiving four first places and one second from the five judges.
One of those judges who put him on top also selected him when he did the Suffolk breed judging, Will Milroy, Rangeview stud, Pipers Rivers, Tasmania.
Mr Milroy said the ram was “very hard to fault”, with beautiful style and muscling all the way through.
The ram, Allendale 2027, came through the Suffolk judging from the performance class, and Allendale principal Alastair Day said it had a “rare combination” of figures and phenotype.
The 121-kilogram ram with 11 millimetres of fat, 49mm muscle depth and 101mm muscle width had post weaning Lambplan Australian Sheep Breeding Values of 13.8kg for weight, 1.1mm for eye muscle depth and 185.5 carcase plus.
Reserve interbreed ram was the White Suffolk ram from Mertex stud, Antwerp.
Allendale’s interbreed supreme ewe was a Poll Dorset, under 1.5 years, and had previously been sashed champion Poll Dorset ewe at the Royal Adelaide show earlier this month.
Reserve interbreed ewe was a Corriedale ewe with twin lambs, exhibited by Bron and Leigh Ellis, Sweetfield stud, Mount Moriac.
Hillden stud, Bannister, NSW, won the breeders group of three sheep interbreed championship with their two rams and one ewe.
The sires progeny interbreed championship went to the Jorgensens, Mertex, Antwerp, with their White Suffolk group, which included the grand champion White Suffolk ram and ewe.
Melbourne’s unique ram trifecta class – one group of three rams from the one breed, any breeder - was won by the Suffolks with Allendale stud having bred and exhibited all three of them.
The Poll Dorset breed dominated the interbreed lamb production ram pairs class, with Valma stud, Whitemore, Tasmania, winning the trade section, and Ulandi Park stud, Kapunda, SA, in second, and the two studs reversing those positions in the export section, with Ulandi Park winning and Valma in reserve.
Supreme heritage breed sheep of the show was the Hampshire Down ewe from Boonong Park stud, Langwarrin.
Jamie-Lee Oldfield
Livestock editor for The Land.
Livestock editor for The Land.
