Paddy and Charlie Davis with their winning ram, ewe and fleece combination at the Royal Sydney Easter Show last week.
Demondrille Merino Stud has cleaned up at the Royal Sydney Easter Show, taking home some of the competition’s finest awards. The stud took out the Supreme Ram, Supreme Ewe and Grand Champion Fleece during last week’s events. The win delighting Stud Principals Paddy and Charlie Davis. Demondrille was established in 1983 by Bede and Rose Davis and the stud has continued to attend the Sydney show for 30 years. Charlie and Paddy Davis took over the reins in a full time capacity in the early 2000s after being heavily involved with their father over the previous decades. The stud had what can be described as their best showing yet with a team of ewes and rams whose quality was very high. They took 3 woolly ewes down, 1 won Grand Champion and the other 2 were awarded Reserve Grand Champion. Out of the 3 rams they took to Sydney, 1 won its class, 1 got Reserve Grand Champion and the 3rd ram was awarded Grand Champion Supreme.
Charlie said “It’s the first time we have got a Grand Champion ewe, we have gone close many times before. This time we got the Grand Champion Ram and Ewe. The stud were also unlucky not to take out the much sought after Stonehaven Cup placing which is the overall winner of the show. The Davis family spent 4 days in Sydney and were up at 3am Sunday morning to travel to the show for day one of the competition. Paddy’s wife Leanne and children Abby and Patrick were integral in showing Demondrille’s stock. Paddy said “Everyone of us had a sheep out there at one stage.” Charlie said “Across the board we had 3 ewes that could have beaten each other and we had 2 rams which could have beaten each other.” The stud definitely had some depth at this year’s show with very little separating each animal. Paddy said “The win definitely gives the clients we have more confidence in our sheep. Winning something at Sydney, it just means so much more, it is a very prestigious competition for studs in NSW.”
Demondrille will head to Bathurst Show in a fortnight and then off to Bendigo in July to start the season again. Charlie said “This team is just about finished and we will bring the next age group through for the next season.” The Davis’ have been inundated with phone calls congratulating them on their performance at the show and the results will no doubt bode well in their upcoming sale. The stud sale will be Tuesday August 19 and they expect that around 100 lots will be offered to their clients. Demand for the stud’s sheep has been strong and it looks to be even stronger this year. It hasn’t been an easy ride for those involved with the merino industry over the last few decades. Charlie said “The ewe base has been declining in the industry over the last 30 years. The number of ewes being joined to merinos went down and with the the fat lamb market being so good some people have gone out of merinos, but the industry has seen a turn around over the last 3 years.” Paddy said “The merino just thrived in Australia and is perfectly suited to the local conditions.” When people say that Australia rode on the sheep’s back it was on the merino’s back.
