Movie star heritage sheep in spotlight in first showing in more than a decade
The Grieve family's Dorset Horn sheep have previously graced the silver screen in a well-known Australian movie, and they were again a star attraction at the Royal Adelaide Show on Saturday.
Robert Grieve and daughters Caitlin and Eleanor, from Hillend, Clarke's Hill, Vic, were the first Dorset Horn exhibitors in approximately 15 years, taking the chance to showcase a heritage breed while Caitlin also competes in the national rural ambassador competition at the show.
If the sheep looked familiar to passers-by, it may be because Hillend supplied half a dozen sheep for the Australian movie Rams, produced in 2018 and starring well-known film stars Sam Neill and Michael Caton.
There are only approximately 10 remaining registered breeders of the several hundred-year-old Dorset Horn breed in Australia, but the Grieves say family history and maintaining genetic diversity in sheep are a couple of reasons why they continue to breed them.
Mr Grieve said his great grandfather first started breeding them in 1931, making Caitlin and Eleanor the fifth generation to do so.
The family run a diverse sheep operation east of Ballarat, consisting of 50 stud Dorset Horn ewes, 80 stud Poll Dorset ewes, and 1000 commercial ewes consisting of 600 self-replacing Corriedales and the balance first-cross ewes bred from the Corriedales with a Dorset Horn sire.
"The family history and heritage of them (is why we breed them)," Mr Grieve said.
"There's things you fall in love with as you get older."
Eleanor said there was still market value in the breed, and other factors that spurred the sisters to carry on the tradition.
"I think there's a great deal of value in maintaining genetic diversity in the sheep industry," she said.
"You can always bring it back to price and value, but you always have to have some sort of genetic diversity.
"They're also a great sheep and when you do cross them commercially to produce a first-cross ewe they do have good market value."
Eleanor is studying agricultural business at the University of New England, while Caitlin is based at home, doing university studies online and also working on the family farm.
"I am the same as Dad (when it comes to breeding Dorset Horns)," Caitlin said.
"It's the family legacy and I might be biased but I just think they're the best sheep.
"We find them easy to manage and good all round sheep that are hard not to love."
It is the first time the family have exhibited sheep in Adelaide, hoping to add to the sheep numbers on display and contribute to the show while Caitlin fulfils her rural ambassador duties.
They do exhibit sheep at five local shows, the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo, Vic, the Australasian Sheep Show and have a ram and ewe in the heritage breed display at the Melbourne Royal Show each year.
"People love our sheep because they are different, they're rare and they're heritage," Caitlin said.
One of those people that loved their sheep was judge Ian Turner, Mount Barker, formerly of Renrut White Suffolks, who said you can't build a "house on the foundation of an outhouse", referencing the Hillend sheep's powerful, stocky and well-muscled builds.
"The foundation of this breed, and more numerous numbered breeds today, was built on the quality of this breed that had dominated the meat sheep industry for a long time," Mr Turner said.
The Grieve family exhibited two rams, both under 18 months old, but it was the shorn exhibit that got the nod from Mr Turner.
He said in a pair of rams that were a great representation of the breed, the stronger top and better balance of the shorn ram gave it the edge.
It was also the shorn, less than 18mo, ewe from Hillend that got the nod over its in wool counterpart, with Mr Turner praising its exceptional loin width and length, and saying it was beautifully balanced from pin to loin.
