A generous donation by one central Victorian sheep breeder which ultimately saved the Australian Sheep & Wool Show has had a Poll Dorset award named in his honour.
The Australian Sheep & Wool Show named the award after Don McKinnon, Derby Downs stud, Marong, following the significant donation last year.
The amount has not been publicly revealed, but organisers of the show said the donation helped keep the show afloat after it was cancelled due to COVID in the hours before it was set to start in 2021.
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The inaugural Don McKinnion supreme champion sash was awarded to Valley Vista Poll Dorset stud, Coolac, NSW, whose April 2021-drop ewe was unbeaten in her class.
Valley Vista Poll Dorset stud principal Andrew Scott said it was a "great achievement" to win the inaugural award with the "smart, stylish" sheep.
"To win Don's inaugural award means a lot because over the years he's put in a massive amount of work to the show and the industry in general," he said.
"We class her as probably one of the best ewes we've bred and she's so correct, right from the word go she's been a stand-out sheep.
"She will go into an embryo program and be used in our stud so we'll flush her and try and get as much of her genetics as we can."
Mr Scott said the result of winning supreme Poll Dorset champion added to their most successful year to date since the stud started showing the breed.
"We had 16 sheep down here and we were really pleased with how they stacked up and have come through," he said.
Poll Dorset judge Robert Grieve, Hillend Poll Dorset and Dorset Horn stud, Clarkes Hill, said it was hard to select the best ewe.
He was assisted in the judging ring by his daughter, associate judge Caitlin Grieve.
"The ewe was a very feminine ewe with good wool, she was well-structured and had a beautiful, clean Dorset head on her," he said.
"The whole breed was very even the whole way through because there was no tail so you'd have to congratulate the breeders on the sheep they presented because they didn't make it easy for the judge."
Springwaters Poll Dorset stud, Boorowa, NSW, won the grand champion ram with an August 2021-drop sheep, whose father won supreme champion Poll Dorset in 2019.
Australian Sheep & Wool Show chief executive Margot Falconer said the award named after Mr McKinnon was worthy recognition of his contribution.
"When we were shut down last year, the financial result was devastating because it was the night before and we had spent all the money," she said.
"There were members who called and offered us help, and Don and Marge McKinnon were two people who made a donation to the Australian Sheep Breeders' Association."
The donation followed a letter from Ms Falconer to ASBA members calling on their assistance to help cover the cost of a COVID insurance policy.
"It was a brand new policy introduced after last year, because last year you couldn't insure for COVID," Ms Falconer said.
"We put a call out to members and Don was most generous.
"We decided to name the supreme exhibit for the Poll Dorset breed after Don and it will remain that way moving forward."