Rural
28 July, 2026
Local stud wins Australian champion ram
THRILLED with their returns at the recent Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo were Glenlee Park’s Will and Billie Schilling, with them walking about with several accolades, including the Supreme Interbreed Longwool Exhibit.
The young ram from the Gerang Gerung stud had won the Grand Champion Border Leicester Ram category on Saturday, and the following day walked away with the prestigious prize.
“It's probably one of the bigger awards you can win in Australia (as) a sheep breeder,” Will said.
“It's the Australian Sheep and Wool Show; they always say it's the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, so that was probably the big one.
“That ram won his class and won Junior Champion, Champion, and then won the Supreme Longwool Exhibit at the show. So it was pretty exciting.”
He said the ram was a “pretty well put together animal” and the result of a passion that’s driven him since he was 12 when he bought his first sheep, despite the misgivings of his grandfather.
“He sort of told me that he didn't think they (Border Leicesters) were much good,” Will said.
“Pa was a sheep breeder and a merino sheep enthusiast. I always wanted to buy a few sheep, and I don't really know how it came on; I just wanted to start up a little sheep stud, and I thought I'll just start up with some Borders.
“I like the look of them. I like the heads on them, big Roman noses. So I bought three stud ewes, and that's how it started.
“But it takes years of planning and years of selecting different genetics to make things like that happen.”
He said he was planning to exhibit again at the Royal Adelaide Show in early September, with the winning ram also part of their upcoming sale.
“We'll go there and hopefully do all right there as well,” Will said.
“Then (we’ll) look forward to our on-property ram sale.
“We'll sell about 80 rams on the 2nd of October, and the ram that won at Bendigo the other day will be in our sale. We’ll sell him this year.”