The 2024 Agricultural Shows Australia Meat Breeds Sheep Young Judge competition placegetters, from left, runner-up Hannah Haupt, winner Christine Sutton and third placegetter Elsie Johnson.

A TEENAGER in her first year judging sheep competitively has won the national meat breeds judging competition at the Melbourne Royal Show this week.

Christine Sutton, 15, from Cobbitty in New South Wales was sashed winner of the Agricultural Shows Australia Meat Breeds Sheep Young Judge competition.

Christine was the youngest competitor in the competition and before the final was excited to put her skills to the test. She grew up on the family farm and has been surrounded by sheep her whole life and is eager to learn more through this competition.

“This is my first year entering and I’m only 15,” Christine said.

“I had hoped to win at the state qualifier, but winning the nationals was a big shock, I wasn’t expecting to win.”

Christine’s family breeds Border Leicester sheep and she’s had a keen interest in the industry since her early days. She attended her first show, the Canberra Royal, when she was just two weeks old.

“I started judging at school, and I’m now a senior student helping to get younger students involved.

“I want to continue my judging experience and next year hope to qualify for the Merino sheep finals,” Christine said.

Christine is eager to encourage other young people into judging,

“It’s such a great event with lots of opportunities.

“Don’t be scared, just get involved, you never know where you’ll end up,” she said.

Runner-up in the competition was Hannah Haupt, 21, from Queensland and Elsie Johnson, 17, from South Australia was third. The other finalists were Lexie Heinrich from Victoria and Zarah Squires from Western Australia.

Agricultural Shows Australia chairman Dr. Rob Wilson praised the work of the young judges and their valuable contribution to the agricultural sector.

“The young judges play an important role in the future of Australian agriculture by identifying the best traits that will contribute to breeding the next generation of quality livestock,” he said.