THE Squiers family, Shirlee Downs stud, Quairading, claimed its 10th Governor's Cup award at this year's Perth Royal Show, with eight of those in succession.
The prestigious silver cup was presented by Governor Chris Dawson APM, officiating at his first Perth Royal Show.
The Governor's Cup is awarded to the exhibitor with the most points in livestock exhibits including sheep, cattle, horses, goats and alpacas and rewards both excellence and consistency, while also promoting the quest for higher standards.
The Squiers' area of excellence is in sheep breeding through their Poll Dorset, White Suffolk and Prime SAMM studs and this year's win puts them one off the record of 11 wins held by AW Padbury.
Stud co-principal Chris Squiers said it had been a real team effort in getting their 64 head of sheep, including 25 lambs, in to the show ring at the 2022 Perth Royal Show.
This included his wife Fay, sons Adrian and Sascha, their wives Kylie and Kelsie, five grandchildren and help from their workmen.
Shirlee Downs' success this year included winning grand champion Poll Dorset exhibit of the show and runner-up in both the interbreed ewe and interbreed ram awards with their Poll Dorset ram and ewe.
Mr Squiers began breeding Dorset Horn sheep as a kid in 1962 when a neighbour gave him a couple of ewes and his dad bought him six more.
They switched to Poll Dorset in 1968 and showed them for the first time at Perth in 1972, but concentrated on prime lamb and carcase competitions at the show for a few years before returning to the stud show ring in earnest in 1988.
MORE ROYAL SHOW STORIES:
"We won our first Governor's Cup in 2009 and drew with Bandeeka cattle stud one year," Mr Squiers said.
"We love the show atmosphere and have met so many fantastic people and made some great friends over the years.
"We strive to keep improving our sheep every year and bringing them to the show to compete, plus sell in the ram sale, shows what we have produced and allows comparison to sheep from other studs."
RASWA president David Thomas said the Squiers' success at the Perth Royal Show encapsulated RASWA's core purpose of celebrating the best in Western Australia.
"Winning the Governor's Cup even once is a remarkable achievement, but to do so 10 times, including eight wins back-to-back is truly outstanding," Mr Thomas said.
"The Squiers family's commitment to their craft and exceptional eye for quality in sheep breeding is a true example of the high standards of Western Australian agriculture."
The Governor's Cup has been awarded at the Perth Royal Show since 1896 and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the Australian agricultural sector.
See the 11-page Perth Royal Show special report in Section 2 of today's edition.
