Victorian Texel ewe beats the competition in her first sheep show outing

A Victorian Texel ewe has a 100 per cent show success rate, after winning supreme of the breed at her first ever show.

The ewe, bred by Mertex Texel and White Suffolk stud principals Basil and Heather Jorgensen, Antwerp, was picked over the champion ram by New Zealand judge Graham Sidey at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show.

Mr Jorgensen said he was "chuffed" with the win at the prestigious event.

"I thought the ram would have taken the top honours," he said.

"She's a top ewe, but I thought, being a NZ judge, they usually go for the ram.

"He said she was very correct and had plenty of depth, so he ended up giving it to her."

Mr Jorgensen agreed she was a standout exhibit of the 34 Texel and White Suffolk sheep they brought to Bendigo.

"She's so correct and has plenty of meat," he said.

"She's structurally very good and has a good topline."

He said they would be bringing her to Sheepvention in Hamilton in a fortnight's time, and it would be interesting to see how well she did there.

"Every judge sees something different," he said.

He said he was impressed with the quality of the Texel sheep in Bendigo, and the effort breeders had gone to to attend the event.

"There were quite a few breeders and a few came over from South Australia, which I think is the most SA studs we've ever had here, which is a good effort," he said.

The ewe beat the champion ram bred by Dlorrah Park Texel stud principal Troy Julyan, Manoora, SA, who said it was his stud's biggest ever win.

"I've been coming here since about 2018 when I started the stud but I've never won a champion here," he said.

"I won a reserve champion ribbon at Adelaide in 2023 and then have had success at local shows like Mount Barker, SA, and Mount Pleasant, SA, but never at a major show like this."

To make the victory sweeter, Dlorrah Park also won reserve champion Texel ram.

"It's been tough and it's still dry, there's not much green feed," he said.

"Getting any show sheep up to scratch anywhere in SA is hard but we managed to get a small team of five up and going."

Mr Julyan said he was confident the ram would do well but it always "depends on the judge".

"He has an exceptional eye muscle area of 55 [square centimetres] and versus the weight on him (90 kilograms), he's done really well," he said.

He said the stud was a tribute to his grandfather.

"The name Dlorrah is Harrold backwards which was his last name, so it's in honour of him," he said.

Mr Sidey said both the champion ewe and ram were very sound on their feet, but it was the ewe's depth of carcase that got her over the ram.