Chudleigh Show a success

The 2026 Chudleigh Show Prime Lamb Competition brought 61 lambs entered across three classes to the newly upgraded facilities at the Chudleigh Showground last weekend.

Chudleigh Agricultural and Horticultural Society vice president and lamb competition organiser Max Cameron said that the section was well supported and has grown steadily since it’s revitalisation three years ago.

“While the dry summer has created challenges within our fattening programs it highlights the calibre of today’s lambs and it’s a testament to our valley’s producers,” he said.

“After a few challenging years it’s great to see our lambs appreciated and producers rewarded within today’s market.”

Mr Cameron said it was a coup to have Dan Korff from Longreach, Queensland, willing to do the judging.

“I first met Dan watching sheep judging at the Campbell Town Show in 2013. He has had a career in the sheep industry which has taken him working and judging and classing sheep throughout Victoria, NSW and Queensland and he has a seat on the Lamb Ex taskforce with the four-day sheep conference taking place in Adelaide from July 7th-10th.”

Scott Jones and his partner Jess Whatley, who run around 200 composite breeding ewes and 100 shorthorn breeding cows on dryland mixed pastures on their property Sky Farm at Western Creek, made a clean sweep of the lamb classes.

One of their lambs, bred from a White Suffolk ram over a Kelso ewe, was awarded Grand Champion Lamb.

It weighed 60kg at approximately eight months of age and managed to stand out in a high-quality field of entries which all displayed exceptional weight and size.

“I was genuinely impressed with the quality of the sheep presented on the day,” Mr Korff said.

“All pens were suitable for the classes they were entered and were a credit to both their respective breeds and breeders.”

“Pens of three are not always easy to find and the judging came down to half points in both classes to determine the place getters which is always a sign of strong competition and tough judging conditions.”

Mr Korff said that the evenness, trueness to type and economic aspects were all evident on the day.

“I have no doubt these producers have solid breeding bases to work from,” he said.

“Presenting sheep of this quality in what has been a dry season in the lead up to the show is certainly a credit to all involved and I thank and congratulate the breeders and show organisers on an outstanding lineup. I hope the competition continues to showcase a terrific Tasmanian industry.”

Results:

Class 1 – Trade lamb: Scott Jones & Jess Whatley 1, Wesley Dale 2, Strowan 3.

Class 2 – Export lamb: Scott Jones & Jess Whatley 1, Scott & Amy Atkins 2, Phonse Blair 3.

Class 3 – Grand Champion Lamb of the 2026 Chudleigh Show: Scott Jones & Jess Whatley 1.

Class 4 – Poddy lamb / bottle raised lamb: Elsie Jones 1, Crowden Family 2, Ava Philpott 3.

The Chudleigh Royal Shears shearing and wool handling competition returned for its fourth year at the Chudleigh Show, continuing to cement its place as a highlight of the annual program.

Novice events started early, each competitor shearing two sheep and novice woolhandlers preparing two fleeces while the higher divisions had to deal with higher numbers as the day progressed and anticipation built toward the afternoon finals.

The Open divisions were hotly contested, featuring a mix of experienced competitors and fresh talent. 

Seasoned competitor Robbie Glover returned to the board, setting a high standard in the Open Shearing final however it was Jack Byers of Oatlands who claimed first place with Glover close behind in second.

Jack’s brother and gun shearer Sam Byers was missing from the competition as he’s in New Zealand as part of the Australian team contesting the Trans-Tasman shearing competition being held as part of the 60th anniversary Southern Shears shearing and woolhandling championships in Gore.

In the Open Woolhandling, Jess Whatley of Western Creek secured first place, her second open win at the Chudleigh Royal Shears, followed by fresh open competitor Ashlee McConnon from Swansea. 

Both Open champions were awarded beautifully hand-painted shears as their trophies, marking another successful year for the Chudleigh Royal Shears.

Qualified woolclasser and one of the driving forces behind the Chudleigh event, Jess Whatley of Western Creek, was rewarded for her efforts with a win in the Open Woolhandling competition.

Having qualified on top going into the finals she found the strength to follow through with the win, demonstrating her trademark quick clean ups and coming up with a personal best of 54 seconds to throw the fleece, sweep the stand, skirt the fleece, roll it up back leg to neck and clean up the whole workspace and tap out. 

In the finals woolhandlers are given a pace shearer, shearing five sheep in a set time to place pressure on the handlers to find a fast and smooth rhythm and and keep on track with as little mistakes as possible. 

Jess said she was proud to win the custom hand painted handshears painted by local artist Alison Scott with a leather tag by Tania Burbury leatherwork to add to the set she won in 2024.

“I was surrounded by top  quality open competitors and they are strong competition who really know their job - you can’t pick who will win when we start in the morning - it could be anyone’s day,” Jess said.

Results:

Novice shearing: Jayden Bowerman of Bothwell 1, Tom Matthews of Bracknell 2, James Brazendale of Bothwell 3, Violet May 4.

Novice woolhandling: Gemma McGuinness of Oatlands 1, Jesse Spencer of Cressy 2, Olivia Baker of Oatlands 3, Elsie Jones of Western Creek 4.

Intermediate shearing: Jake Noble of Cressy 1, Bailey McCarthy of Campbell Town 2, Jayden Bowerman of Bothwell 3, Sym Hood of Longford 4.

Senior woolhandling: Cally Spangler of Brighton 1, Georgina Viney of Liffey 2, Lucy Byers 3, Olivia Baker of Oatlands 4.

Senior shearing: Alex Cusick of Swansea 1, Jackson Jones of Western Creek 2, Gabe Last 3, Mark Lytle 4.

Open woolhandling: Jess Whatley of Western Creek 1, Ashlee McConnon of Swansea 2, Amelia Byers of Oatlands 3, Pete Blight of Launceston 4.

Open shearing: Jack Byers of Oatlands 1, Robbie Glover of Miena 2, Gabe Last 3, Josh Hazlewood of Oatlands 4.