A successful first instalment of the Castlereagh Maiden Merino Ewe competition held in March means the event will be split into east and west sections.

Brad Wilson, a stud stock sheep specialist for NSW with Nutrien Ag, based in Dubbo, was one of the co-ordinators of the inaugural competition.

This competition covered an area from Eumungerie and Kickabil all the way through to Collie and Gulargambone and then back to Mendooran and Merrygoen.

Eight competitors each entered their maiden Merino ewes for the event held on Tuesday, March 4.

Peter, Ann and Doug Freeth -- trading as Glenburn Holdings, Collie -- were the winners.

The Bennetts family from Merrygoen, east of Mendooran, placed second.

Third place was Reg and Robyn Sweeney and Angus and Rowena Munro -- trading as Pinehurst Pastoral -- also at Merrygoen.

The encouragement award went to the Bonnington family -- trading as John Bonnington and Co -- from Curban.

Competition winners, the Freeth family, have the opportunity to represent the Castlereagh competition at the state final held in conjunction with the Merino National show at Dubbo in August this year.

Mr Wilson said next year the Castlereagh Merino Ewe competition will be held east of the Newell Highway from Merrygoen to Tooraweenah and places in between.

IN 2027 it will be held west of the Newell Highway and include centres like Collie, Curban, and Kickabil.

“We will split it up east and west of the Newell (Highway) and do it as a biannual event,” he said.

Mr Wilson said industry knowledge meant he knew the Castlereagh area had a lot of good wool and sheep producers, so beginning a competition to recognise Merino producers in the area had been a thought for a little while.

“We’d been thinking about it for a few years,” Mr Wilson said.

“There is some good producers in that area, and a fair few Merino producers as well. It was something that I thought would get a bit of traction, and it did.”

Judges came from Darbys Falls and Boorowa to complete the judging as well as an associate judge from Warren.

Judging is conducted on each entrants property, the judges and interested spectators travelling from property to property through the Castlereagh region across the day.This is how judging is conducted across the state. Sometimes, the judges and interested spectators may travel together on a bus, but this inaugural Castlereagh event was by car. The property of the first entrant was visited at 8am with the last property visited at 4pm.

The landholders run their maiden ewes to the sheepyards to be judged.

They are judged on how many sheep were classed out, how many lambs were dropped and other factors such as, growth rates, structure, wool quality, evenness of the mob, and management.

“The judges look at the ewes in their own environment,” Mr Wilson said. “It’s designed so people can see the whole mob.”

This means that entrants cannot just select their best five or six sheep, they must enter a whole mob to be judged accordingly. The largest mob in this event featured 1250 merino ewes.

Mr Wilson also pointed to some of the qualities judges are looking for in a wide-ranging criteria: “Evenness throughout the mob, productivity, looking for sheep that suit the breeding objective of the entrant,” Mr Wilson said. “They are judged on wool quality, on carcass, and on structure.”