His father Max had one of the first studs in the country for the then new breed of sheep, and quite obviously saw potential in his son being just as involved in its continuation.
In the more than 30 years since, Guy has continued to shape his Wakool stud partly using the knowledge he gains at industry expos and sheep shows along the way.
He has been officially breeding and showing as Induro White Suffolks for more than 15 years.
It was at one of the most prestigious of these important sheep shows - the weekend’s Australian Wool and Sheep Show in Bendigo - that Guy proved his staying power in the White Suffolks.
One of his rams was named reserve White Suffolk champion.
He was second only to the White Suffolk that won best of show in the meat breeds section.
The reserve title is equal best to Guy’s results at previous Australian Wool and SHeep Shows, although he feels he may have gone one step further last year had COVID-19 not interfered.
“I had a really good ram last year, but we were all sent home after we got to Bendigo,” he said with a laugh.
His reserve champion - with the tag number 190256 - was one of 16 sheep Induro took to Bendigo at the weekend.
Twelve of them returned with ribbons.
But it was 190265 who really caught the eye of the judges.
“He is a big, long and extensively muscled ram, which is why the judges liked him,” Guy said.
“He has a lot of hind quarter, good on his feet and he was about 123kg at the time of the competition with about 50mm eye muscle and 10mm of fat.
“He’s out of an AI (artificial insemination) program. The semen came from a Western Australian stud, out of a South Australian ram.”
While Guy was confident in his ram heading into the weekend, he said it’s always hard to predict how the competition will go at the national competition.
“It’s always tough in Bendigo, and especially as this was the first one in three years.
“I thought he might have been off the mark a little with his weight, being six weeks away from optimum, but he was obviously well ahead of the rest on the day.
“And he still has plenty of capacity. I expect he’ll put on another 15kg between now and the major shows when he’ll be sold.”
Guy runs Induro with the help of his partner Maree Whelan, and says their daughters Laylah and Holly will play a part in the family business too.
He says while not all breeders participate in shows like the one in Bendigo, he says there’s a lot of gain from giving it a go.
“Shows are a great benchmarking tool, and the networking opportunities are invaluable,” he said.
“I have made friends from just about every state by going to these shows.”
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