Having taken the grand championship double at the 2019 Royal Sydney Show, Jeff Sutton, Wattle Farm Border Leicester stud, Temora, NSW, will be attending the Australian Sheep & Wool Show with another top quality contingent.
His draft of 20 sheep will include the junior and grand champion ram at the 2019 Sydney Royal and the junior and grand champion from the 2018 ASWS.
He will also be exhibiting his 1.5-year-old woolly ewe which had been judged grand champion in Sydney and at the state sheep show in Dubbo, NSW.
Mr Sutton is a committed supporter of sheep shows and enjoys the strong competition at the annual event in Bendigo.
His young ewe is a daughter of a sire purchased from the Coolawang Border Leicester stud, Mundulla, South Australia, in 2015, a sire Mr Sutton said who is having a significant genetic influence on his stud.
"It is very satisfying to breed a ewe as good as she is and then show her against her peers," he said.
"An animal with this quality makes all of our efforts worthwhile."
Mr Sutton said the annual ASWS is one of the premier showcases for the sheep and wool industry in Australia, attracting international and interstate visitors.
"The show in Bendigo is a highly prestigious event, and very difficult to win with most of the best sheep from the eastern states attending," he said.
"I value it because it puts our sheep up against the best in Australia."
At the ASWS last year, Mr Sutton was awarded the supreme sash for the Border Leicester breed with the stud's junior and grand champion ram.
Mr Sutton has been feeding his flock sheep since January and welcomed the recent break in the season.
"It has been hard but we will get through this dry time," he said.
"We did have a bit of feed in reserve but have been feeding our show sheep since October."
