SOME of the best and even some of the heaviest lambs from the Tamworth region were on display during the annual Tamworth Spring Lamb Show on Monday.
The event is run as part of the weekly prime lamb sale at Tamworth Regional Livestock Exchange (TRLX) and the top prize attracted some stiff competition this year due to the vast improvement in the season.
John and Helen Roworth and family, Minarooba, Duri, edged out the competition to take home the Jason Goodwin Memorial Shield.
It was their agent, Scott Newberry, Davidson Cameron and Company, Tamworth, who entered the lambs, which were April/May-drop heavy exports tipping the scales at between 56 and 57 kilograms.
As a result, the win was a lovely surprise for Mr Roworth, who said they had previously won a category in the annual competition, but never won the champion pen. He said it was terrific to win the shield named in Jason's honour.
The Jason Goodwin Memorial Shield is awarded in honour of the former stock agent who died from a heart attack in 2008, aged 36.
The win represents a fantastic turnaround for the Roworths, who were forced to destock their property for the first time since 1948 during the drought.
Mr Roworth said the turnaround in the season in the past six months had been amazing.
"We are a small family farm and there was a lot of family effort involved in the win," he said.
When the lambs went under the hammer, they were knocked down by Scott Newberry for $202 a head.
Brian Wellings of Fletchers International, who was one of the judges, said it was a tight contest.
He said "the lambs that needed to be crutched were crutched" when commenting on the winning pen and "although there were heavier lambs here, the winners were a beautiful pen of even suckers".
He congratulated all of the vendors who stayed in the lamb industry after a horrendous drought.
On a lighter note, Mr Wellings said another entry exhibited by last year's winner, the Kirton family of Walcha, were some of the heaviest lambs he's ever seen.
Those lambs topped the market at $238 and weighed an average of 115kg on farm and topped at 128kg.
The light trade award was won by Nigel and Lisa Lawson, Quirindi, and made $155; medium trade category was won by Scott and Amanda Doyle, Tamworth, and made $159; and the new Dorper category was won by Chriss and Sue Crowell, Glenbogie, Upper Moore Creek, and sold for $160.
The event was sponsored by the Goodwin family, the Douglas family at Abelene Park Poll Dorset stud, North West Direct Sales and TRLX.
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