Supreme tag to Tara ram in Texel tussle

Texel breed judging attracting six rams and nine ewes from two exhibitors was no easy task to adjudicate for Canowindra district Poll Dorset breeder, Greg Hamilton of Windradyne stud, as he said the quality of entries was of a very high standard.

Tara stud, operated by Peter Matus, took out the ram grand championship with his milk teeth shorn classwinner, a son of the Australian Texel ram of the year in 2013 from Tuffnell Park stud in Western Australia.

Mr Matus said the Tuffnell Park ram had bred enormously well within his Tara stud and the grand champion ram, the Blayney show champion, would be hand-mated to 25 ewes after Easter.

Last year the sire, Mr Matus calls TP, bred the grand champion ram and ewe at Sydney Royal while in 2016 bred the ewe which was a member of the runner-up pair of the Gilmore interbreed trophy and in the Peter Taylor Group second placing.

Taras grand champion ewe was a daughter of the ewe which was a member of the Gilmore Trophy runner-up pair in Sydney in 2016 and has a double cross of the Tuffnell Park ram.

Reserve ram broad ribbon went to a member of the winning pair from Monkittee stud, Braidwood, operated by Braidwood Central School, which also exhibited reserve champion ewe after it stood second to the Tara ewe and eventual grand champion.

Agriculture teacher, Mick Wall, said Monkittee stud was established 10 yeas ago, but the school had been breeding Texels for 14 years.

A South Australian bred Glenarbian stud ram and reserve champion Adelaide Royal 2016, was the sire of all 10 entries the school penned at this years royal show.

Monkittee stud also won the ram one to two years and pair of rams classes.

Monkittee stud now boasts 22 stud ewes and the agriculture section also runs beef cattle.