Blue Rock Suffolk stud wins at Melbourne Royal Show

Blue Rock Suffolk stud principal Deva Weitman, Romsey, won the impressive accolade with a 2.5-year-old ewe that had two lambs at foot.

Ms Weitman, who runs the operation with husband Mark Clement and daughter Nova Scotia, said the achievement was something she had been striving for for years.

"I've been showing at Melbourne for the last seven years, minus a couple of years because of COVID, and it's my first-ever supreme win here," she said.

"I came very close in 2016 but didn't quite get there.

"It's very rewarding to finally get the win."

She said it was the first time this ewe had been out of the paddock.

"I pulled that ewe out of the paddock because she had the best condition," she said.

"I liked how she walked, she had good depth and width and I thought I'd give her a chance.

"It was a big surprise to win."

Her Melbourne show team consisted of six sheep and two lambs.

"We did very well with our ewe line up, we got first in the woolly class, first in the ewe over 1.5 years, and first in the pairs," she said.

"Our woolly ewe became reserve champion, and the ewe over 1.5 years with two lambs at foot became the champion ewe, which went on to be supreme Suffolk of the show."

Ms Weitman said the supreme champion was by a Sayla Park ram that was a previous champion ram at the Melbourne Royal Show.

She said the ewe would be going back out to the paddock "to make more babies and enjoy herself".

The champion Suffolk of the show went to Deppeler Suffolk stud, Derrinallum.

Deppeler stud co-principal Doug Deppeler said it was always special to win a broad ribbon, but particularly when it was the feature breed of the show.

Mr Deppeler said this was the ram's fifth show of the year, but the first time he had won supreme.

"We actually had him for sale at the Elite Show and Sale in Bendigo a couple of weeks ago, but he didn't get a bid, so we brought him here," he said.

"This is his first major ribbon but he is looking the best he's looked all year, he really has peaked right in time."

He said the ram had stood out as a lamb.

"We've always rated him really highly," he said.

He said the 14-month-old ram was by a Kerangie Suffolk ram, 2025, who had sired all the rams in their show team this year.

He said the ram would be taken to the Royal Geelong Show in a couple of weeks and then would "almost certainly" be used as a sire.

Suffolk judge Waterton South Suffolk stud principal Chris Hampton, New Zealand, said the supreme exhibit was a "very-good example of the breed".

"She has a true Suffolk head, which flows through to a long neck, clean shoulder and a great spring of rib," he said.

"That's followed on with a very-good loin and hindquarter.

"You could stand behind the sheep and see the wedge on the narrow shoulder through to the wide hindquarter."

Mr Hampton said she was structurally sound and walked very well on her feet and legs.

He said the champion ram "stood up and presented himself exceptionally well".

"He had a very-big loin and hindquarter," he said.

"He was also very good on his legs."

He said both champion sheep would have "well and truly been competitive" at some of the biggest sheep shows in NZ.

"The quality of the Suffolks was exceptionally good, which made judging difficult at times because it was very difficult to come down to my final six," he said.

"There were some very-good animals which missed out on getting placings because of the sheer number of exhibits and the quality."

He said the quality of the Suffolks was comparable to that in NZ "given we have shared a lot of genetics over the years and we are striving to produce animals for the same meat market".