NO doubt to Cox family of Langdene stud, Dunedoo, are hoping their ram and ewe pair can take out the national Merino pair title at Bendigo, Victoria, in July like their 2018 Sydney winning pair did.
The stud took out the coveted National Merino Pair award from 14 other entries from 12 studs on the first day of Merino judging at Sydney Royal Show.
The ram and ewe were drawn out of the August shorn section and judged by all seven wool-type judges after the extended line-up was cut back to eight pairs for final selection.
What was more pleasing to all around the judging ring was that all seven judges were unanimous in their decision for first place, adding encouragement to the Cox family's selection which will represent NSW at the 2019 Australian Sheep and Wool Show.
Langdene's ram is an embryo transfer (ET) bred four-tooth fine/medium growing 18.1 micron wool while the ewe is a fine wool 15.1 micron two-tooth, also ET bred.
Speaking on behalf of the judges, Nigel Brumpton, Mt Ascot stud, Mitchell, Queensland, said there were some outstanding teams which didn't make the final cut, but were all excellent exhibits.
"To those teams which went back to their pens , don't be discouraged because there are some excellent sheep that went back to their pens," he said.
"The new voting system result was quite outstanding with a unanimous decision but the winning pair are very productive, structurally correct and bulky.
"They're the sheep that will put dollars in your bank account as they will cut a lot of wool with a great length of staple while having depth and width, and will certainly stand up well in Bendigo."
Runners-up pair came from Greenland stud of the Alcock family, Bungarby, while third place went to Nerstane stud, Woolbrook.
RAS Merino pair
Nerstane stud, Woolbrook, came back into the Merino limelight when their ram and ewe March shorn (full wool) ram and ewe were selected as the winning RAS pair of the year from nine other entries.
Both ram and ewe bred by the McLaren family, were sired by Charinga rams, the 19.7 micron fine wool six-tooth ram by Charinga 975 while the 17.9 micron four-tooth ewe was by Charinga 199.
The ram was reserve champion fine/medium wool at Sydney last year.
Second place went to Greenland stud while third ribbon was presented to Bocoble stud, Eumungerie.