The Royal gets warm and wooly

TORONTO, Nov. 12, 2015 /CNW/ - With perfect timing, as the weather turned cooler during the days of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (RAWF), the warmest animals entered the barns. The Royal's Market Lamb Show and Auction attracts over 50 wooly entries and the competition was tough. In the end, the Grand Champion – a  120 lb Suffolk/Charolais cross owned by Murray Emke of Emke Livestock of Elmwood – sold for a record-breaking $20.10/lb to Yummy Market of Vaughan.

Emke is the third generation of his family to show sheep at The Royal and he proudly reports that the fourth generation – his children – are now showing at The Royal as well. "The Royal is a showcase for Ontario and Canada and agriculture," Emke comments. "It fosters leadership in young people. For me, sheep are a commodity but it's one that anyone can easily produce because you don't need a lot of land or equipment. They are a good animal for kids."

One of Emke's competitors is also a fan of The Royal. "It's so worthwhile to come to this fair because it's an opportunity to show at the most prestigious show in Canada," says Kyle Seguin of Ottawa, who has been showing sheep at The Royal for almost 20 years. "It's an excellent venue for marketing our breeding stock to local and international buyers and it allows us to evaluate our sheep to see how our breeding program is progressing."

According to Seguin, the 2015 Market Lamb Competition at The Royal was exceptionally strong. As Emke's success can attest, there were "some good quality animals" and there were also entries from some new strong exhibitors.

The Royal is supported in part by the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario.

The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair is the world's largest combined indoor agricultural and equestrian show. This year, the 93rd Royal Agricultural Winter Fair runs November 6-15, 2015 at Exhibition Place, Toronto. For competition schedules, live webcasting, results and to purchase tickets, please visit www.royalfair.org.

SOURCE Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

Image with caption: "Murray Emke with his Grand Champion Market Lamb. (CNW Group/Royal Agricultural Winter Fair)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151112_C4153_PHOTO_EN_543556.jpg

Karen Poncelet, Marketing Communications and Community Relations Mgr, The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, 39 Manitoba Drive, Exhibition Place, Toronto, ON M6K 3C3, Direct: 416-263-3411 Fax: [phone]