TOP SIRE 2026–2027 HALL OF FAME Visitors from virtually every wool growing area of Australia and numerous overseas guests were regular attendees at the field day, which ran well into the early 2000s when onproperty sales became a larger focus for studs and several centralised displays, such as the Australian Sheep and Wool Show at Bendigo and the South West Slopes Merino Breeders’ Field Day at Harden, attracted more support. The event was revamped in August 2025, featuring a new oneday format at the Conargo Sports Ground and a new name, the Riverina Sheep and Wool Expo. The 1980s represented a period of growth for the Merino industry, with the exception of the 1982 drought. The introduction of a floor price for wool created stability and, with a budgetable return from wool growing predicted, numbers steadily increased and so too did the demand for quality Merino sires. During this period, Ross and Irene were flat-out breeding and promoting Willandra. Major successes in the show ring ensued, with Willandra claiming back-to-back wins in the Lionel Weatherly Cup at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Melbourne in 1983 and 1984, and again in 1991 and 1998. They also added numerous medium and strong wool championships to their trophy cabinet from events across the eastern states and at the Adelaide Royal Show. Willandra’s first on-property ram sale was held in 1979. From the outset, they experienced an upward trajectory in both numbers sold and prices received. In 1984, they sold 476 rams for an average of $207 and a gross figure of $98,930. By 1988, they sold 610 rams for a gross of $524,400, setting a new national (and most likely world) on-property sale record. These were heady days and industry events that would later unfold meant that it wasn’t until 2011 that this record was eclipsed. The industry banned the international exportation of Merino genetic material from 1929 until the last 1970s. Stud breeder associations had long argued this was a restraint of free trade and when the ban was finally overturned an array of countries were eager to access Australian genetics. Willandra, being a bloodline of renowned size and wool cutting ability, was eagerly accessed by international buyers from Russia, Uruguay, China, South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina. This led Willandra to sell their ASBA Grand Champion Ram “Robert” to Uruguay for $11,000, along with a horn sire for $13,000. Ross judging at the 1990 South African Merino Championship Show in South Africa– Standing third from left alongside (L–R) fellow judges Tom Padbury, Brian Hartley, Andre Jordaan, Albert de Villiers, Bill Gibson and Koos Hanekom. Willandra’s Lionel Weatherley winning team–Melbourne 1983. – 42 –
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