Hills stud claims championship double as 'crowd favourite' breed debuts
One Tree Hill breeder Candice Thompson is no stranger to being an exhibitor at the Royal Adelaide Show, having considerable success with the Border Collies from her Wynnlake stud, including a champion pup last year.
But this year she has been extra busy, also showing the newest sheep breed to debut at the Royal - Valais Blacknose, alongside fellow breeder Rob Knight, No Eye Deer Farm, Kersbrook.
The sheep which roam in the Swiss Alps are on the wish list for many Australian hobby farmers, although at $25,000 to $30,000 for top quality ewes they could be out of many budgets.
They proved a crowd favourite in the sheep shed at the show among the public.
"There was a bit of chatter and commercial producers thinking they were a joke, but the highlight was the crowd who loved them," Ms Thompson said.
Wynnlake stud came away with both champion ram and ewe - both progeny from imported embryos who shared the same sire.
Judge Cherie Pagan, Cooinda Border Leicester stud, Gilgandra, NSW, said it was her first time judging the breed, but she had seen them in other interbreed line-ups at shows in the eastern states and understood why people were so drawn to them.
Ms Pagan said the 12-month-old champion ram, Wynnlake Amarillo was a "wonderful interpretation of the breed".
"They are little bit trickier to judge than a maternal or a terminal because you are looking at a few different things here, but at the end of the day a good sheep is a good sheep," she said.
"He is structurally sound, he is really good on his feet, he has a beautiful head and Roman nose and he is well muscled and walks well."
Ms Thompson said Amarillo would play an important role in Wynnlake's breed up and purebred program.
"He is my best ram which is why I brought him out. He has a lot of qualities we like to see in the Valais - for a 12 month old boy he is a big unit and he is fast growing compared to other Valais Blacknoses," she said.
"He is actually quite comparative when it comes to other sheep's carcases at the same age."
Ms Pagan then selected one of Wynnlake's young ewes, Agapanthus, as her champion ewe for her superior growth for age and length.
Ms Thompson is hopeful they will get their own breed classes at the Royal next year, rather than being considered as any other breed where they are fewer class options.
"We have about seven studs here in SA so it would be good if we could see some more showing next year," she said.
Wynnlake stud has nine purebreds but hopes to rapidly grow these numbers with plans to use four of their young ewes as embryo transfer donors in January.
"In the past, I have only done one ewe at a time; we already have a few people wanting to buy some embryos," she said.
Ms Thompson says she is excited to see how the breed progresses and says it has already come a long way in only a few years in the country.
"There are a couple of studs trying to develop a poll variation, others are crossing them with Babydolls to bring down the size of the Valais, but I personally want to uphold the values of the Swiss breed itself and stay true to type with my breeding," she said.
