Bruce Rock and Tammin studs take PROram and PROewe honours at annual show

Numerous quality ram and ewe entrants made up this year's Elanco PROram and PROewe competitions at the Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Ram Sale at Katanning last week, making the contest tough to judge.

Winning this year's PROram title was the Jones family's Belka Valley stud, Bruce Rock, while the PROewe title was won by the Mackin family, Kamballie stud, Tammin.

The competition recognises the ram and ewe with the best production and profitability traits and this year it attracted five ram and four ewe entries.

To find the winning ram and ewe, points were awarded for both objective measurement traits and subjective assessment of the animals pre and post-shearing.

To start, entries were assessed in their wool by Merna stud co-principal Kaiden Johnston, Quairading, and were marked on wool quality and coverage out of 60 points and conformation and constitution in the wool out of 40pts.

The ram and ewe entries were then shorn by Tom Reed, Jumbuck Shearing and were assessed again by Mr Johnston on their conformation and constitution out of the wool, with this section worth 50pts.

In terms of fleece measurements, this section was scored out of 150pts and it took into consideration the animal's staple strength, co-efficient of variation of fibre diameter (CV), and comfort factor (CF).

The animals and their fleeces were weighed after shearing, with 100pts available for bodyweight and 250pts for commercial fleece value, which was calculated by Elders, Williams district wool manager Sarah Buscumb, based on fleece weight, fleece test results and current market prices.

Finally, after the numbers were crunched, the Belka Valley stud stood out in the PROram section, with the Kamballie stud winning the PROewe section.

The Belka Valley Merino sire finished on 572pts, out of a possible 650, which placed it just 3.2pts ahead of the second-placed ram entered by the Eckersley family's Darijon stud, Highbury.

Mr Johnston commended the Belka Valley stud for its entry.

"The ram had a monstrous fleece and was also well-balanced throughout," he said.

"It is structurally correct with an impressive topline.

"Overall it's a great ram."

Mr Johnston awarded the Belka Valley ram 49/60 for wool quality and coverage, 33/40 for conformation and constitution in the wool and 38/50 for conformation and constitution out of the wool.

The Belka Valley ram weighed in at 126 kilograms which assisted it in scoring 72/100 in the bodyweight section.

On the wool side, it had fleece test results of 18.7 micron, 15 CV, 99.6 per cent comfort factor, 52 N/kt staple strength, 73.7pc yield, and 97mm staple length which contributed to its score of 130 out of 150 for the objective wool measurements.

The ram's fleece weighed 15.6kg, which was the heaviest in the competition, and based on this and its fleece test results, it earnt 250 out of 250 pts awarded for the commercial fleece value section.

The winning Belka Valley ram, is a son of Poll Boonoke 867 which was purchased at the 2022 Boonoke ram sale by Belka Valley for $33,000.

The ram is no stranger to going well in the judging ring, having placed third in the four-tooth fine-medium wool August shorn Poll Merino ram class at the Australian Sheep & Wool Show at Bendigo, Victoria, this year and while it was over in Bendigo it was purchased by Neil Jackson, Overton stud, Kojonup.

A 131kg ram from the Darijon stud was placed second.

It was the second heaviest in the competition and scored a total of 568.8pts.

It received 77pts for bodyweight, 51pts for wool quality and coverage, 32pts for conformation and constitution in the wool and 40pts for conformation and constitution out of the wool.

On the wool side, it scored 130pts for its objective wool measurements and 238.8pts for fleece value, with its fleece weighing 14kg.

The fleece had measurements of 19.8 micron, 16.5 CV, 99.5pc CF, and 41 N/kt staple strength, 80.5pc yield and 110mm staple length.

Third in the class went to a whopping 154kg sire from the Wililoo stud, Woodanilling, with 564.13pts.

It scored 120pts for objective wool measurements.

It had a fleece weight of 14.4kg and tested at 21 micron, 18.1 CV, 99.1pc CF and 59 N/kt staple strength, 73.1pc yield and 108mm staple length.

In terms of value, the fleece scored 226.13pts.

In the PROewe competition, 22.59pts separated first and second place.

Taking top honours was a Merino ewe from the Kamballie stud, which scored 598 out of a possible 650pts.

Mr Johnston said he was impressed by the Kamballie ewe.

"She is a really well-balanced ewe overall," he said.

"Structurally, she is very correct and has a good topline.

"Her fleece and carcase characteristics set her above the rest of the ewes overall.

"She is a safe ewe with no faults and very true to breed type."

The Kamballie ewe scored 97 out of 100pts for body weight, weighing in at 93kg and scored 250 points for commercial fleece value.

The ewe cut a 13kg fleece which had measurements of 17.2 micron, 16.5 CV, 99.8pc CF and 50 N/kt staple strength, 69.5pc yield and 109mm staple length.

It scored 50 out of 60pts for wool quality and coverage, 33 out of 40 for constitution and conformation in the wool and 43 out of 50 for constitution and conformation out of the wool.

The ewe is sired by Glenlea Park 482.

Second place in the PROewe competition went to an exhibit from the King family's Rangeview stud, Darkan.

The Rangeview ewe weighed 96kg to score 130pts in the section and its fleece weighed 11.6kg.

The fleece measured 19.2 micron, 14 CV, 99.7pc CF and 63N/kt staple strength, 75.5pc yield and 106mm staple length.

Its fleece scored 224.41 out of 250pts for commercial fleece value.

Another Rangeview ewe took out third place when it scored 563.86 out of 650pts.

This ewe had a bodyweight of 97kg, while its fleece weighed 10.1kg and it scored 206.86 for commercial fleece value.

The fleece had test figures of 19.3 micron, 14.3 CV, 99.6pc CF and 64N/kt staple strength, 74.8pc yield, with a 97mm staple length.

It also scored 51/60 for wool quality and coverage, 32 out of 40 for conformation and constitution in the wool, and 44 out of 50 for conformation and constitution out of the wool.