A FOCUS on commercial traits has paid off in the showring with two Texel tricolour ribbons for Bill and Karen Agnew, Furner.
Their Willaren stud showed grand champion ram and ewe.
Ms Agnew said they were primarily trying to focus on what they needed as prime lamb producers.
"We are trying to breed what is right for us commercially - and the shows are a bonus," she said.
"We need lambs to hit the ground and that is where Texels are really good."
Karen said they were not searching for big frames but wanted meaty lambs with good muscle, and shows were a handy way to benchmark sheep and breeding.
"You can think yours are pretty good at home but it's not until you can line them up against other sheep (you can see where they stand)," she said.
The ram, 109 kilograms with an eye muscle depth of 45 millimetres, was described by judge Dale Moore, Coompanya Tas, as "very hard to fault".
He said Willaren's reserve champion was also a "phenomenal" ram and it was a difficult call to make between the two.
* Full report in Stock Journal, September 11, 2014 issue.
