A contingent of 25 studs will truck a team of close to 60 Merino and Poll Merinos across the Nullarbor for what will be the largest Merino team to represent Western Australia at the ASWS.
The team, which will make the expensive round trip of more than 6600km, will include 19 full wool rams, 30 March shorn rams and eight ewes.
The Merino team for this year’s show will include WA’s representative in the national pair final which will be exhibited by previous national winners the Hogg family, Navanvale stud, Williams.
The Merino pair from Navanvale will include a medium wool ram from the stud which was sashed the supreme exhibit and grand champion Merino ram at both this year’s Wagin Woolorama in March and Williams Gateway Expo in April.
Also on the truck will be the Wagin Woolorama grand champion Poll Merino ram from the Seymour Park stud, Highbury and the Williams Gateway Expo grand champion Poll Merino ram from the Eastville Park stud, Wickepin.
On the ewe side the grand champion Merino and Poll Merino ewes from the Williams Gateway Expo from the Darijon stud, Narrogin and Belmont Park stud, Wagin, will also be part of the team.
But it will not only be in the show ring where the WA studs will be represented, there will also be a handful of WA rams offered in the Merino sale on Sunday afternoon.
Joining last year’s sale vendors East Mundalla stud, Tarin Rock, Rangeview stud, Darkan and Claypans stud, Corrigin, in the sale this year will be the Seymour Park stud, Highbury.
WA Merino breeders have had a good strike rate at the show over the years when it comes to taking out the top award.
In the 14 years WA breeders have been making the trek, they have claimed the supreme Merino exhibit on five occasions and five national Merino pair of the year awards, including last year’s national pair award which was won by the St Quentin stud, Nyabing, making it back to back wins for WA.
There will also be an impressive line-up of meat sheep heading across the Nullarbor in another truck.
The Veitch family’s Kaya Dorper and White Dorper stud, Narrogin, will be back again exhibiting along with selling four rams in the sale, along with first time exhibitors to the show – Yonga Downs White Suffolk stud, Gnowangerup and Kohat White Suffolk stud, Ongerup.
Along with the WA meat sheep which will be exhibited in the show ring there will also be two studs which will have their own displays, Hillcroft Farms stud with their UltraWhite sheep and the Heggaton family, BreederBest Genetics, Kojonup, with sheep from its Prolific and Kojak flocks.