Dohne Sheep Inspire Lexie towards a career in Agriculture

Article courtesy of Lexie Heinrich

My name is Lexie Heinrich and I’m a past student of Moama Anglican Grammar (MAGS), graduating in 2024 and am now a current student at Longerenong Agricultural college, doing my Advanced Diploma of Agribusiness Management.

Lexie Heinrich at the 2025 Dohne Marquee Education Program as a student of Longerenong Agricultural College.

I live along the river in Echuca on a small block of land where we run a few sheep and some cattle. I have been around sheep my entire life, spending lots of my childhood visiting my grandparent’s broad acre cropping farm and sheep enterprise, ‘Heinrich Ag’. We’d head over on holidays and weekends which sparked my passion for Ag right from the beginning.

I have worked all over our district in many different farming enterprises which has expanded my knowledge and experience, from working in the shearing shed and classing fleece to milking and raising my own calves.

During my time at MAGS, I got the opportunity to study Agriculture and Primary Industries and receive my certificate II in Agriculture, which really encouraged me to pursue my interests and passion at school, with also the knowledge that my subjects were benefiting my opportunities after school. Through these subjects I was given many opportunities, like visiting the Australian Dohne Breeders’ Association.

When MAGS came to the Australian Sheep and Wool show to show our sheep in 2022, we all were given the opportunity to visit the Dohne Marquee and hear from breeders and guests within the association. It was an amazing experience, hearing from many farmers with extensive knowledge about breeding and selling superior Dohne sheep as well as keeping a high quality within the breed. I personally learnt a lot from the people apart of the Australian Dohne Breeders’ Association, being able to network with others in the sheep industry and actually see how far you can go within this industry. Their passion to keep the wool industry alive was extremely encouraging and drove me to the realisation that I wanted to be a part of that.

In 2022, whilst we were at Bendigo, I decided to give the Junior judging competitions a go which was scary but extremely rewarding. I came home with a few ribbons which inspired me to keep putting myself out there because this was an industry that I loved. I began to take it seriously, studying parts of the fleece and animal and really listening to guest speakers and people I met at these shows so I could better myself in the competitions. I signed myself up for multiple competitions like the Merino sheep judging, Corriedale judging, Meat breeds judging and fleece judging, taking home ribbons in all those events. In 2024 I won Overall State Champion for Victoria for Judging Meat Breeds sheep which took me to the Melbourne Royal Show for the National Championships.

Lexie Heinrich 2024 State Champion of Meat Sheep Junior Judging.

I also got the opportunity to judge dairy cows starting at local shows like Deniliquin with MAGS, making all the way to Sydney for the Royal Show to compete at state level multiple times, taking out 4th place in 2023.

In April and May of last year I had the amazing opportunity to head up to Jerilderie for two months and work at Willandra Merino Stud. I was fortunate to work closely with Craig Heath and his son, Angus as well as Ross Wells and his family. I learnt so much about how to breed stud sheep, using genetics as well as the importance of feeding and nutrition to achieve the best possible medium merino rams and fleece.

I started at Longerenong Agricultural College in 2025 and completed my certificate IV in Agriculture as well as my wool classing certificate. Studying Wool classing was very hands on, with many lessons out in the shed looking at whole fleeces and learning what to look for when creating our lines. Our trainer, Craig Mackley, took us on many trips out to local sheds where we were able to learn and help in real time and hear from many people with extensive experience running sheep.

We were also able to practice our skills on multiple occasions during the year, here on the Longy farm when it was time for shearing. We spent many days working in the shed, classing the fleeces with the help of Craig and being able to network with the shearers that came in. Doing my certificate IV in Ag tied in perfectly with wool classing as we touched on nutrition and welfare of livestock which helped us understand the quality of different fleeces and how you can achieve a great product. Those experiences greatly increased my learning and skills as well as my passion for the wool industry and my love for sheep.

Lexie Heinrich blade shearing.

When Longerenong Agricultural College visited the Dohne Marquee last year I was keen to learn more, this time with an understanding of how to class fleece. I was not surprised about how much I gained out of that one day with the Australian Dohne Breeders’ Association, just like in previous years. They shared so much knowledge and experience from many people which was just as encouraging for me, as it was back in 2022.

I have been able to achieve all this because I was encouraged to continue to put myself out there in an industry that can be challenging but very rewarding. Visting the Dohne Marquee back in 2022 was the turning point, showing me all the opportunities out there in the sheep and wool industry, you just have to want to take them. I am still learning more about our amazing industry every day, but I value the knowledge and experience the people within the Australian Dohne Breeders’ Association have passed on to me, and the wisdom I’ve gained from working with so many people in many areas of Ag.