Sweetfield Corriedale stud wins Australian Sheep & Wool Show title

Sweetfield Corriedale stud principal Bron Ellis, Mount Moriac, was "overwhelmed" when her senior champion ram won supreme champion Corriedale on Saturday.

Despite having won the supreme title a handful of times in recent years (last year being one of those), Ms Ellis said it was still a special occasion.

"I don't take anything for granted," she said.

"When you put the work in and watch them grow, to win it against some other strong competitors, it's a big achievement."

She said the ram - named Spirit - "looks like a sire".

"He's got good carcase, even fleece, and just a presence about him," she said.

"And Corriedales need that carcase and wool because they're a dual-purpose breed."

She said the ram was a different type of ram to her supreme champions of the past.

"He's got Sweetfield and Croydon [Corriedale stud, Condah] bloodlines in him, and that Croydon sire has thrown more of a compact type into him than some of our other sheep," she said.

She said the ram would most likely be retained in the stud for future use.

New Zealand Corriedale Sheep Society president and Lockerbie Corriedale stud principal Mark Sidey, Waipara, NZ, was the judge of the Corriedale rams, while Hillend Dorset stud principal Robert Grieve, Clarkes Hill, judged the ewes.

Both judges came together to judge the supreme champion.

Mr Sidey said the Sweetfield ram was "free of fault".

"He's a very good, even ram, with great spring of rib, beautiful, white, soft wool, and a good carcase," he said.

"He's a true dual-purpose Corriedale."

He said the quality of the Corriedales at the ASWS was very good.

"They would compete well against any sheep in NZ," he said.

Sweetfield beat out Flinders Christian Community College for the supreme championship, but that did nothing to dampen the excitement of the school's students who were over the moon to be crowned champion Corriedale ewe.

Captain of the school's agricultural program Tiffany Maestrale said this was the biggest accolade the school had received in its 10-year history.

She said the ewe - known as Anzac - had won ribbons at local shows, but to win at the ASWS was "unbelievable".

"It's not often you see a school take out a win like this, particularly against people who've been doing it for decades," she said.

"We were just happy to win the school division, so to win champion ewe is the cherry on top."

She said the ewe was "amazing" and had "endless potential".

"She's got amazing wool coverage, it's consistent all the way through even down her hind legs," she said.

"And she's only a young ewe, she still has her milk teeth."

Ms Maestrale said the school's agriculture program had traditionally only been open to students from years 7-12, but they had started opening it up to some of the younger years.

They currently have 25-30 sheep including lambs.

She said they planned to keep Anzac on the farm.

Mr Grieve said the school's ewe caught his eye from the earlier classes.

"She's a very feminine ewe with a lot of potential," he said.

This was Mr Grieve's first time judging Corriedales at a significant show and he said the quality was shown in how difficult it was to make decisions in some of the later classes.

"It was very hard to split them," he said.