Chris and Cindy Clonan Established the Alfoxton Merino stud in 1983. Today, it is also home to "Brutus", their 175.5 kilo bumper ram that took out the Australian Supreme Merino Ram award at the National Merino Sheep Show in Dubbo at the end of August.
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For Chris it was a case of being beaten by the best, to become the best.
"He was a 2017 drop. I'm guessing he was a seven plus kilo lamb at birth, he had a lot of appeal about him and was a showy type," he remembered.
"He was shown in Queensland and got beaten up there in May, and then we took him to the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo in July. He was actually beaten there by the ram representing South Australia.
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"There was a Western Australian ram there for second and we ran third."
Chris thought Brutus had been a bit unlucky.
"Here we are only five weeks later, and we've not only beaten that South Australian ram, but we beat the Victorian ram that won the overall Supreme Champion at Bendigo," he said.
"Brutus just came through. He just bloomed if you know what I mean. Just like a racehorse that is set for a race, and just peaks at that race.
"This award has been won only three times by the New England."
Chris said the Bendigo show was the biggest in Australia, hosting upwards of 700 or 800 sheep.
"Dubbo I would imagine there would be 400 to 500 sheep," he said, then chuckled.
"They're not like an Armidale Regional Show, a Guyra Show or a Walcha Show.
"It's a big deal to beat all of NSW and then be the NSW representative, and to win the Australian Supreme, well obviously there's a lot of recognition that goes with it."
Chris said he hoped it would be a boost for Armidale area and the New England.
"We're just in severe drought at the moment, and it's really given our stud operation a boost," he said.
"Because we work so hard at it. I started the stud in 1983 and registered it in 1986. I'm just so grateful we've been lucky enough to win these big awards.
"We've been selling in Bendigo since 2009. There's only a limited number of wool growers here, and with the overall reduction in the ewe flock you've got to rely on selling rams outside of the area as well."
When Chris recently spoke to someone at Dubbo about the drought he said he was grateful for two things.
"Thank goodness they grow a lot of barley in Western Australia and they make a lot of hay in Victoria because that's what's keeping us going at the moment," he said.
"We've had to sell 600 of our commercial ewes, and they made really good money. That's the difference between this drought and other droughts; our stock are still commanding good prices.
"It's just about trying to protect our stud flocks now. We've cut into them all we can ... we've got to make a stand and hold onto those genetics. If we lose that, we'll never breed another Brutus."
