Massive ewes at “Macclesfield” catch the eyes of judges In 2025, the annual Boorowa Show Society and Boorowa Merino Breeders’ Association Flock Ewe competition covered eight local operations, welcoming two new flocks to the tour. It was the “massive” ewes from Murray and Julie Dymock, Dymock Agriculture, “Macclesfield”, Boorowa, which caught the eye of judges Richard Chalker, Lach River, Darbys Falls; Ben Simmons, Dunedoo, and associate judge Matt Kelly, Haddon Rig, Warren. The Dymock’s, who placed third in last year’s competition, presented a run of 950 Royalla and Koonwarra-blood ewes and were declared winners at the Boorowa Show on Saturday 1 March. Their flock had one of the best lambing percentages of the day, according to judge Ben Simmons. “The ewes are massive with plenty of scale and length of body,” he said. “They’re structurally correct. They’re going to fill the bales. They’re a very good commercial flock.” The Dymock’s flock averaged 142% at lamb marking in 2024, which has been progressively getting better in recent years according to Murray. From 2800 ewes in 2024, the Dymock’s marked 3450 lambs with a 28% culling rate. “That’s bringing our numbers up so we can get a bit harder on selection,” Murray said. While the Royalla studs have now been dispersed, Murray gave credit to stud master Winston McDonald. “He’s been a chariot to me,” Murray said. “He got our sheep going well and it’s going to be hard to replace him.” While offering judges comments, Richard said he could see why the Dymock’s offered up so many ewes for inspection. “At 8kg of wool, there may be 38 bales of wool sitting here in this mob of ewes – that’s a lot of wool,” he said. “You can see why they’re fertile – all beautiful heads on them, big hipped, good deep sides, carrying the wool down the leg.” Judges placed the Tara Park-blood flock of Dermot and Teena McGrath, Clear View Partnership, Boorowa, in second place. They presented 480 head with an average micron of 18.9, classed by Guy Evans. Associate judge Matt Kelly said they presented an excellent line of even ewes. “They’re true to type for what you’re trying to produce with commercial value. There’s a lot of great ewes in them and a lot of depth of body with plenty of staple length. They’re going to cut a lot of wool.” The McGrath’s were also awarded the People’s Choice Award. Tony Flanery, “Goorama”, Galong, returned to the competition after a break to claim third place with a flock of 1625 Yarrawonga and Hazeldean-blood ewes. Bernard Wright, “Woolpack Creek”, Boorowa, entered for the first time and picked up the award for best short wool flock as well as the Joyce Main Encouragement Award. He presented 250 Grassy Creek-blood ewes, measuring 17.3-micron. Richard described the ewes as “nice and square with good body length in them”. 37th Boorowa Show Society and Boorowa Merino Breeders’ Association Flock Ewe Competition | Friday 14 February 2025 Photo captions. 1– Murray Dymock, Dymock Agriculture, Boorowa, with his winning flock of Royalla and Koonwarra-blood ewes. 2– Dermot, Teena, Rory and Marty McGrath, “Clear View”, Boorowa, with their Tara Park-blood ewes which claimed second place. Photos: Kristen Frost. 2– 1– – 121 –
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