THEY mightn't have the prestige, but the all-purpose Merino classes were at least the most popular at the recent Australian Sheep and Wool Show at Bendigo.
Steward Phil Toland said the competition to find the most complete Merino ram attracted 94 entries.
Mr Toland said the competition, now in its fifth year, was expected to grow even more as breeders look to the Merino to produce a prime lamb.
The competition, restricted to March-shorn rams with no more than two permanent teeth, is conducted on a points basis where rams are assessed visually and objectively for wool and carcass characteristics including fat, eye muscle and weight.
Peter Meyer's two-tooth 21.4-micron Mulloorie ram, from Brinkworth in South Australia, was the top point scorer and the overall champion.
The 116.5kg ram had a scanned fat depth of 7.5mm and a 46mm eye muscle to score 83.3 points, ahead of Allan Dawson's Winyar ram from Canowindra in NSW with 82.4 points.
The Mulloorie victory breaks a four-year hold by Sims Uardry rams on the title.
Uardry manager Ben Lane conceded that the Mulloorie ram, with a muscle depth of 46mm and weighing 116.5kg, was always going to be hard to beat.
Landmark agent and carcass judge Wilson Beer, of Echuca, said the Mulloorie ram had the shape and muscling to match a Poll Dorset.
And while the all-purpose entries were first judged in their respective wool types, most of the top-scoring rams came from the medium to strong-wool classes.
The one exception was Graham Wells' One Oak 18.6-micron ram from Jerilderie which scored 81.3 points to finish third overall.
The other noticeable feature among the top-scoring rams was the dominance of Peppin, Collinsville or South Australian bloodlines.
