Mr Baker had two southdown studs and two poll dorset sheep on show on Friday and said he was pleased with how his stock had compared to others in their breed categories.

He said the judges had been looking for well-balanced sheep with good feet, backlines, teeth, testicles, and plenty of meat.

‘‘These are pretty well-balanced sheep, they’ve got plenty of meat from toe to head and that’s what the prime lamb producer looks for when he’s buying rams to put out with ewes to breed fat lambs,’’ he said.

‘‘You’ve got to get your stock around and let people have a look at it.’’

Mr Baker has been breeding stud sheep for 33 years, and recently sold two poll dorset sheep at the Bendigo show.

He said there was no real key to breeding, but favourable weather conditions were a key factor.

‘‘Since January this year down where I am in Hobart we’ve had a total of 75mls (of rain) in January and three weeks ago we got another rain of 28 mls and that’s all we’ve had,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s critical [conditions] down south at the moment.’’