White River Poll Merino Stud won its fifth Riverina Wool Australian Champion Merino Hogget award at the 2026 Hay Sheep Show on Saturday 13 June.
The win follows White River also winning the prestigious award in 2010, 2016, 2017 and 2022.
White River also won the class for a group of three march-shorn ewe lambs this year.
Stud principal Wes Daniell said, remarkably, the winning ram WR 812 was sired by the stud’s 2022 winner WR 067, which was part of the stud’s successful Moorundie Park family.
The Champion Merino Hogget award was contested by 40 entries and once the ram won the champion Australian hoggett he was ineligible to enter in other awards throughout the day.
Wes said WR 812 was a powerfully built ram – weighing in at 127 kilograms.
“He has terrific bulk with a long staple of white, bright, crimpy medium wool on a safe body,” Wes said.
“He has a powerful muzzle and an excellent poll factor.
“He has what we are aiming for in our breeding and he has got stud and commercial relevance, which is what we are aiming for.”
The ram boasts a 20.1 micron wool, with a standard deviation of 2.6, coefficient of variation of 12.7, comfort factor of 99.7, eye muscle depth of 48.6 and a sac depth of 7. 7.
Wes said it was just great to be part of the Hay show and to have won the champion Merino hoggett for the fifth time.
“We are looking forward to displaying our rams at the EP Merino Expo at the Wudinna Showgrounds on Monday 6 July.”
