ATTRACTING plenty of interest at this year's Rabobank WA Sheep Expo & Ram Sale at Katanning was the Elanco PROram and PROewe competitions.
The competitions, which this year attracted five rams and five ewes for judgement, aims to recognise the ram and ewe with the best production traits and the best profitability.
To find the winning ram and ewe entries, points are awarded for both objective measurements and subjective assessment of the animals in and out of the wool.
To start the competition the entries were judged in the wool by competition judge Shaun Counsel, Warrening Gully, Williams, and here he marked them on wool quality and coverage out of 60 points and constitution and conformation in the wool out of 40 points.
The entries were then shorn by Tom Reed, Jumbuk Shearing and once out of the wool Mr Counsel then assessed their constitution and conformation once again with this section worth 50 points.
In terms of objective fleece measurements this section was scored out of 150 points and it took into consideration staple strength, co-effiecient of variation of fibre diameter (CV), and comfort factor (CF).
After the shearing the animals and their fleeces were both weighed.
There was 100 points available for bodyweight and 250 points for commercial fleece value which was calculated by Elders district wool managers Travis King and Alex Prowse based on fleece weight, fleece test results and current market prices.
Finally after all the numbers were crunched it was the Blight family's Seymour Park stud, Highbury, which came out on top and won the PROram title, while the King family's Rangeview stud, Darkan, finished on top in the PROewe section of the competition.
The Seymour Park Poll Merino sire finished on 559 points out of a possible 650, which placed it 40 points ahead of the second placed ram entered by the Rangeview stud.
Mr Counsel said the Seymour Park ram was a well-deserving winner of the PROram title, but the competition itself was quite close.
"The quality of sheep this week was clear among the entrants into the PROram competition," Mr Counsel said.
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"The conformation and constitution were pretty hard to split but the wool value of the Seymour Park ram made him a clear winner."
In the judging Mr Counsel awarded the Seymour Park ram 49 out of 60 for wool quality and coverage, 38 out of 40 for constitution and conformation in the wool and 39 out of 50 for its constitution and conformation out of the wool.
When weighed, the Seymour Park ram came in at 132 kilograms which helped it score 79 out of 100 points in the body weight section.
On the wool side its fleece tested 18.6 micron, 3.8 SD, 20.3 CV, 98.9 per cent CF, 67.7pc yield, 103mm staple length and 45N/kt staple strength and these figures contributed to its score of 104 out of 150 for the objective wool measurements.
The ram's fleece weighed 20.2kg, the heaviest of the five entries and based on this and its fleece test results it was valued at $244.79 which earned it the maximum 250 points for the commercial fleece value section.
The winning Seymour Park ram was sired by Willandra 447.
A 153kg ram from the Rangeview stud placed second.
It was the heaviest in the competition and scored a total of 519 points.
It received the maximum 100 points for body weight, 50 for wool quality and coverage, 36 for constitution and conformation in wool and 37 for constitution and conformation out of the wool.
On the wool side it scored 142 points for its objective wool measurements and 154 points for fleece value after its 13.2kg fleece was valued at $148.90.
The fleece has measurements of 20.1 micron, 2.9 SD, 14.4 CV, 99.2pc CF, 80pc yield and 64N/kt staple strength.
Third in the class went to a 136kg sire from Seymour Park that scored 509 points.
Out of the top three rams it scored the highest points for the objective wool measurements section when it finished on 144.
The fleece off the Seymour Park ram weighed 16.2kg and tested at 21.7 micron, 3.0 SD, 13.6 CV, 99.4pc CF, 75.3pc yield, 138mm staple length and 54N/kt staple strength.
In terms of value, the fleece was worth $159.68 and for this section it scored 165 points.
In the PROewe competition a 60 point difference separated first and second place.
Taking top honours was a Merino ewe from Rangeview stud, Darkan, when it scored 623 out of a possible 650.
"The ewe was in great shape and had a good constitution," Mr Counsel said.
The Rangeview ewe scored 86 out of 100 points for body weight when it tipped the scales at 90kg and a maximum 250 points for fleece value with its fleece valued at $230.66.
The 12.2kg fleece measured 16.8 micron, 2.6 SD, 15.3 CV, 99.3pc CF, 75.9pc yield, 102mm staple length and 60N/kt staple strength.
It scored 147 out of 150 for objective wool measurements, 60 out of 60 for wool quality and coverage, 40 out of 40 for constitution and conformation in the wool and 40 out of 50 for constitution and conformation out of the wool.
The ewe is by Rock-Bank Rafer and prior to the PROewe judging the ewe was sashed the grand champion Poll Merino ewe of show.
Second place in the PROewe competition went to an exhibit from the Blight family's Seymour Park stud.
The Seymour Park ewe weighed 104kg to score the maximum 100 points in this section and the fleece weighed 9.6kg.
The fleece measured 19 micron, 2.5 SD, 13.1 CV, 99.7pc CF, 81.6pc yield, 107mm staple length and 49N/kt and at these numbers it scored 147 points for objective wool measurements.
Its fleece was valued at $154, for this section it scored 174 out of 250.
The Campbell family, Coromandel stud, Gairdner, finished third with a ewe which scored 533 out of 650.
This ewe had a body weight of 80kg while its fleece weighed 10.8kg and was valued at $176.38, which was the second highest in the ewe competition resulting in it being awarded 196 out of 250 points for the fleece value category.
The fleece had test figures of 17.5 micron, 2.8 SD, 15.8 CV, 99.6pc CF, 76.1pc yield, 105mm staple length and 40N/kt staple strength which helped it achieve 121 points for the objective wool measurement section.
It scored full points for wool quality and coverage as well as constitution and conformation in the wool section and 40 out of 50 for constitution and conformation out of the wool.
