IT WAS cheers and excitement at the prime lamb exhibition when Australian White lambs bred in the Oberon district took out the overall champion and reserve awards of the 2016 Dubbo Show Prime crossbred and Merino lamb hoof and hook competition.
A crowd of some 200 breeders and prime lamb enthusiasts gathered for the prize announcements and charity lamb auction which raised $16,325 for 19 different charities within an hour’s selling.
Prime lamb committee spokesman, Terry Mitchell of Fletcher International Exports, said 35 lambs went under the hammer for an average of $480.15 and topped at $1100.
Enjoying success in the Poll Dorset and Aussie White judging rings, Graham Gilmore and the Gilmore family, Tattykeel studs of Oberon, continued gaining accolades by exhibiting the grand champion hoof and hook team of Aussie White lambs from the export class of weights between 52 to 62 kilograms live.
James Gilmore said the Aussie White/ Dorset cross October/November 2015 drop lambs had gone through a very tough year finishing on silage in wrap was was “basically all they were on”.
“Leading up to that they were on pasture, but like everyone else the pasture ran out so we put them on silage with no grain,” he said.
“The lamb competition doesn’t ideally suit our lambing, so we carried a few over for the competition.”
The lambs liveweight average was 55.3kg, dress weight 29.4kg giving at 53.1 per cent dressing percentage.
Tattykeel’s winning trade weight team under 52kg live were also Aussie White lambs with 45.7kg, 23.7kg and 51.8 dressing percentage.
Reserve champion overall team, also Aussie Whites, came from Robert and Toni Gilmore’s Ardess Australian White breeding flock at Oberon.
These were second cross Australian White lambs out of Australian White/Poll Dorset cross ewes running on brassica until the season died, according to Mr Gilmore.
“They then went onto pasture with lucerne hay supplement up to the show,” he said.
The lambs won the heavy export class hoof and hook section weighing 71kg live, 41kg dressed with a dressing percentage of 57.8pc.
Global Dorpers, Narrabri, won the hook section of the trade class while Peter Hyland, Hyland Dohnes won the hook section of the export class.
Last year’s winners, the Woodley family, “Kurraview”, Wongarbon, exhibited the winning hoof section of the heavy export class with Suffolk/White Suffolk cross lambs.
These were the same cross, age and class as last year.
