FRESH from winning the Riverina Wool Australian Champion Hogget Ram at Hay, NSW, recently, the White River Poll Merino WR11067 was crowned Eyre Peninsula Hogget Ram of the Year at Wudinna on Monday.
Selected by Trundle, NSW, stud breeder and judge Russell Jones at the EP Merino Pre-Sale Expo, the ram finished ahead of another from White River, Poochera, and rams entered by Mallee Hill, Ceduna, and Collandra North, Tumby Bay.
Mr Jones said the champion was "very well-balanced, very soft, very pure in quality and hard to fault".
He also said the second place-getter, still a ram lamb, would be one to watch and could eventually surpass its White River counterpart.
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White River principal Wes Daniell said the ram would be entered at the Australian Wool and Sheep Show at Bendigo next weekend, as part of an eight ram team from the Poochera stud.
"It's a real bonus for our stud to achieve that (wins at Hay, NSW, and Wudinna) and helps us going forward, taking our display of rams to Bendigo," he said.
"He's got a combination of confirmation, a very good physical outlook - front legs, back legs and a big, long deep side - a soft, silky, sirey muzzle, good purity of wool and he carries a double poll gene," he said.
"He's also covered in a sirey, crimpy fleece that'll breed on we hope."
Mr Jones, who is the principal of Darriwell Merino and Poll Merino studs in Central West NSW, said he was impressed by the entire shed of rams penned at Wudinna.
"There's been a big improvement in the wool quality of South Australian sheep, even since I was last here three or four years ago," he said.
"Generally through the shed, everyone's doing a lot of work on their wool and probably chasing that micron market.
"There's also a lot of good-framed sheep in the shed with a lot of people acknowledging that meat's very important."
