Weekend to remember

CONSISTENCY has seen Terrick West Poll Merino Stud dominate the national March-shorn pairs competition at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show for a second year.

The Prairie West stud won both champion and reserve champion sashes to hang besides last year’s success in the competition.

“The secret of (winning) pairs is to have consistency,” said stud principal Ross McGauchie.

“You can have the best ram and ewe but they can be different types of sheep.

“We have really got set now the type of sheep we breed, especially the folds, after moving from the horned over the last 10 to 15 years.”

Championship judge Mitch Hogg said the Prairie West winners “were so similar it’s not funny ... they were a true pair that were matched very well.

“They have well-nourished, heavy-cutting white wool, and their constitution is flawless,” Mr Hogg said.

The winning pair shared the same sire and Clairie McGauchie said: “We had two very good, but different, pairs to enter this year.” She said characteristics on show in the successful combinations included thicker, richer and subtle wool, big carcass and a bolder crimp.

Terrick West also won the champion Victorian-bred ram fine/medium and ewe strong wool, champion Marchd-shorn strong wool poll ewe, junior champion strong wool ewe, March-shorn ewe showing no permanent teeth and Marchshorn ewe showing not more than two permanent teeth.

Mr McGauchie said the Marchshorn champion and reserve champion pairs were by a group of three rams that were “as good as we’ve ever bred” that they never got a chance to show after COVID cancelled the 2020 show.

The winning rams will be offered for sale at the Adelaide auction in September.

Mr McGauchie has been part of the Australian Stud Breeders’ Association committee since the show moved to Bendigo more than 20 years ago, including two stints as president.

At the weekend, he was named one of two new association life members.

Rams in demand at national auction

SUNDAY’S Australian Sheep and Wool Show ram sale saw Loddon studs sell all except two of their listed lots.

Terrick West achieved the sale’s equal third top price of $15,000 for a 13-month-old 18.4 micron animal described as a “long stapled ram nice nourished tip good shaped ram stands well”.

Another Terrick West ram sold for $12,000 and the stud had an average of $7500 for its five lots.

The Kirk’s Longdale Stud sold four of five rams listed in the catalogue for an average of $2645, Doug Perryman’s Panorama Stud, Mysia. sold four of five rams for an average of $2750 while Norm Weir’s Kerrilyn Stud had a clear- ance of all four rams for an average of $1750.

Top price at the auction was $24,000 paid by Thalaba Pastoral Company, NSW, for a 20.4 micron offered by West Australian stud Rangeveiw Poll Merinos.

The sale had an 83 per cent clearance for an average of $5390.

Nicola and Rod Kirk with their March-shorn champions. LH PHOTO