Agriculture
30 July, 2024
Local fleeces best in nation
LODDON Merino studs collected five major awards in the Australian Fleece competition last weekend. Calivil’s Kedleston Park stud won the national best performance class fleece for a second year while Norm Weir’s Kerrilyn stud at Dunluce was...
LODDON Merino studs collected five major awards in the Australian Fleece competition last weekend.
Calivil’s Kedleston Park stud won the national best performance class fleece for a second year while Norm Weir’s Kerrilyn stud at Dunluce was named the most successful exhibitor.
Kedleston Park’s 18.4 micron fleece from sheep shorn on March 7 was the highest scoring entry in the competition.
Stud principal John Humbert said: “We shore more than 3500 stud ewes, maiden ewes and weaners back in March. I put aside what I thought were good fleeces for evenness, colour and weight,” he said. “There were 10 or 15 and sometimes I would go back and take one out before selecting the final three entries.”
Those three entries finished first, third and fourth. Kedleston Park also won state championship for its top fleece that was awarded a score of 96.7.
The performance class is for exhibitors shearing in six to eight-month cycles commercially.
For Kerrilyn, major awards came in three classes - most valuable in the commercial value section, reserve champion in fine medium (19.6-20.5 micron) and strong wool (22.1 and broader). The successes earned Mr Weir the most successful exhibitor trophy.
Fleece competition judge John McGrath said the depth and quality of entries this year was the most impressive.
“The entries in the stud sections were again of a very high standard and the commercial exhibits were among the best I have seen in the competition’s long history,” he said.
Competition co-ordinator Candice Cordy said she had been buoyed by the increase of entries this year, up 45 from 340 in 2023. All competition fleeces were weighed and sampled for objective measurement using Australian Wool Testing Authority procedures.
Many of the fleeces, including those entered by Mr Humbert, will be donated for auction later in the year to raise funds for Strength to Give, the donor entity of Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry. The competition selects a different charity each year with more than $210,000 having been raised in 23-year history of the event.