Sheep & Fleece Competition History

The Sheep competition at the Sydney Royal Easter Show has a long and complicated history dating back to the earliest days. From the outset, the Agricultural Society of New South Wales grasped the potential of the wool industry and its likely importance to the economy of the Colony.

Merino breeding programs and expected outcomes are described in the Society’s founding document, a prospectus published in 1822, and as one of his first duties, the new Society’s president met with the Governor to discuss wool tariffs. A petition was also swiftly sent to the Earl of Bathurst in London to further prosecute the issue. Relief from wool duties would, it argued, ‘encourage the increase of our herds and the improved growth of fine wool’.

At the first ‘Show of Livestock’ held by the Society in 1823 at Parramatta, the majority of the thirteen prizes for animals were for sheep. They included prizes for:

Best Australian Merino two-toothed Rams and Ewes, not less than five of each description

Best Australian Merino Ewe Lamb not less than ten in number

Strategies to encourage good husbandry and improve breedstock were successful. By the 1830s, Australia was challenging Spain and Germany as the main supplier of wool to England, and by 1838 wool was Australia’s main export.

Sheep remained an important part of the Society’s Shows and by 1869 a separate competitive section was created for Wool – recognising the importance of wool to the nation and its ever increasing and varied uses. Wool classes during the period 1869-1892 occasionally included classes for fibre from goats and alpacas.

In July 1890, the Society held its first separate ‘intercolonial’ Sheep Show. Though exhibits from other colonies were never as numerous as first hoped, overall, the Sheep Show was a success and recognised as the best of its kind in Australia. However, after 1892 it was cancelled due to funding issues. Naturally, this concerned sheep breeders who came together in 1894 to form the NSW Sheepbreeders’ Association. In 1895 the Association held its own Sheep Show, which then became an annual event. It drew many exhibitors as it was held at a more favourable time of year than the sheep competition at the Easter Show. (British breeds show well in autumn, but Merinos are more advantageously shown in winter.) However, the show’s Pyrmont location was a drawback and in 1917 the RAS took over the exhibition, returning it to the Showground out of Show time. This show became known as the RAS of NSW Annual Sheep Show and was conducted by a joint committee of the RAS and the NSW Sheepbreeders’ Association.

To confuse the issue, at different times during the preceding twenty years, some British breeds were shown at the Easter Show (1906-1917), and a Fat Stock section temporarily included sheep (1901-1905).

In 1929 a section was introduced to the Show called 'Fat Lambs' which included classes of carcasses suitable for export and a lamb carcass competition continued until 1974. From 1975 competitions for fat lambs and carcases were held outside Show time and from 2001 until 2025 the RAS participated in and sponsored the Prime Lamb Hoof and Carcase Competition held at Ilabo Show.

By the mid-1970s the main RAS Annual Sheep Show was losing popularity. Times had changed and exhibitors preferred to take their stock to country shows. When entries fell to an all-time low in 1975, the Sheep Show was suspended indefinitely. Rising costs and inadequate facilities had contributed to its demise.

Concerned by this development, RAS Councillors obtained government assistance to reinstate a sheep and fleece competition at the Easter Show, beginning in 1976. For educational reasons alone, it was important for the sheep industry to have a presence at the Show. To encourage merino entries, classes were introduced for sheep shorn in August. Over the next few years wool industry fashion shows and shearing competitions were introduced.

Today during Show, more than 400 classes celebrate achievement across Merino, Poll Merino, Meat and Dual-Purpose breeds, as well as fleece exhibits, with cash prizes, ribbons and perpetual trophies awarded. Merino and Poll Merino sections feature August and March Shorn classes, covering wool types from Ultrafine to Strong alongside Production classes. Meat and Dual-Purpose breeds include Australian White, Dorper, Poll Dorset, Suffolk, Texel, White Suffolk and others. Fleece categories span Merino, Crossbred, Border Leicester, Commercial and District exhibits. The RAS’s role in supporting the industry and promoting excellence continues the tradition that it started in 1822.