The stage was set to be big from the outset for the White Suffolk breed at this year's Unigrain British and Australasian Sheep Breeds show at the Wagin Woolorama, with a massive 18 entries from eight studs filling the show ring in the first class of the day.
Encountering the massive line-up of young rams would have been daunting, but experienced interstate judge Scott Mitchell, Rene White Suffolks, Culcairn, New South Wales, said while it was a mammoth task, the challenge of an average of eight entries a class ensured that Mr Mitchell was able to witness the depth and quality of Western Australia's White Suffolk breeding.
Athough it meant some hard deliberation, he said WA breeders should be extremely proud of the quality of the White Suffolk genetics they were producing."
The presentation and breeding of the White Suffolk's here today are a real credit to the breeders," Mr Mitchell said.
"The overall quality was exceptional and it is great to see so many breeders and entries represented."
With classes stacked with entries, Mr Mitchell had his job cut out for him and when classes had 15, 16 and 18 entries he was adamant to give placings up to fourth and fifth.
In his explanations throughout the course of the day, he often noted there was not a lot between first and second or third and fourth, sometimes it was a case of his personal preference being the deciding factor, as it was too hard to differentiate which animal was superior.
There were 108 separate entries, from nine studs for the White Suffolk breed, providing plenty of healthy competition across the classes and championships with the winners certainly deserving of their titles.
The title of grand champion White Suffolk was awarded to the champion ram bred by Brimfield stud, Kendenup, principals Max Whyte and Gail Cremasco.
The ram won the final ram class of the section, woolly ram under one year, against four other rams with five studs represented.
Mr Mitchell said both the ram and the ewe were excellent representations of the breed when deliberating the eventual grand champion sash, but he just could not go past the ram.
"That ram has got power written all over him," Mr Mitchell said.
"The thickness of barrel, that length and strength, he is fleshy, big boned and a beautiful big powerful head with great neck extension and has an amazing sirey outlook."
During the champion ram presentation, he said he liked woolly sheep, but that even without the wool, the winning ram would have been just as impressive among so many quality White Suffolks shown throughout the day.
"I really have to give credit to the breeders, because to get the rams up to the level they are now at this age shows how good their breeding is," he said.
The reserve champion ram was won by the Yonga Downs ram that came out on top of the first class of the day, the young ram nudged out 17 other entries in its class to gain its place in the championship.
"The reserve champion ram was also very high quality," Mr Mitchell said.
"This ram paraded very well and stood out straight away.
"He has great length and depth of body, he had a beautiful White Suffolk head, but I had to be picky and the length of his ears was a little big for my personal preference."
The champion ewe title was also keenly fought, with ewes competing in classes of 16, 15 and 8 entries throughout, but it was an impressive Yonga Downs bred ewe that took home the honours for owner Brenton Addis.
The ewe was conceived via natural means by sire Bolloola 210104, which was reserve champion at the Adelaide show in 2022 and Mr Addis purchased the sire from Shane Baker, Victoria, for $11,000.
The reserve champion ewe award was won by Harris Thompson's, Venturon Livestock, Boyup Brook, with an entry from the ewe under one year showing milk teeth, born after June 1, 2023, where it won against 15 other ewes.
"The reserve champion ewe was very similar to the champion," Mr Mitchell said.
"The reserve had great fleshing and was good on her pasterns but the champion was just better on the hind quarter."
The group classes were the last sections judged and these were all won by Yonga Downs stud, including the pair of ewes under one, the group of one ram and two ewes and group of three ewes, with both of these having the stipulation of having to be animals drawn from the previous classes.
Yonga Downs' clean sweep of the group classes culminated in the final class of the White Suffolk section, the group of two rams and two ewes showing milk teeth and drawn from the previous classes.
This group would go on to represent the White Suffolk breed in the interbreed championship later in the day for the chance to win the Honda XR 190 GT two-wheel ag bike, jointly sponsored by Elders Limited and Farm Weekly.
Mr Mitchell said it was hard to go past the Yonga Downs stud group as it was such a great representation of the breed.
"At the end of the day it is my decision," Mr Mitchell said.
"Everyone is breeding their type and style of sheep, but this group has so many good attributes and were especially even through the hind quarters."
