Agriculture
1 November, 2023
Skill, speed of shearers impress industry icon
MERINO industry veteran Bob Rollinson was sitting in the front row when shearers took to the boards at Boort Show. The owner of Mysia’s Concordia stud, who turns 91 next month, was casting a discerning over competitors with fellow stud owners Ross...
MERINO industry veteran Bob Rollinson was sitting in the front row when shearers took to the boards at Boort Show.
The owner of Mysia’s Concordia stud, who turns 91 next month, was casting a discerning over competitors with fellow stud owners Ross McGauchie (Terrick West) and Warren McRae (Oak Bank).
The trio was among sponsors who had backed the show’s lucrative shearing competitions.
“All the sponsors deserve recognition for making the event possible,” Bob said. “The sheep were good and provided enough to enable the shearers to show their expertise.
“The winners were impressive and they shore the sheep quickly.”
Bob said shearing always drew a crowd at the show.
The Concordia stud was founded in 1920 by Bob’s father Darb Rollinson on Wanganella ewes and rams.
Bob has been managing and classing Merinos at his stud since the 1950s where the micron yield averages 21.
“We benchmark our sheep on the show floor at the major sheep shows in Australia against the best in Australia. Our breeding objectives are unchanged - big sheep, big fleeces,” he has said.
The Boort Show came just weeks after Bob had again overseen shearing at Concordia.
This year’s shearing competition sheep came from Murray and Jo Haw’s Durham Ox property. One of the competition organisers David Weaver said the 18-month-old Merino wethers had been good for cutting.
Cameron Chalmers won the local section of the show’s shearing competition from Tom Kerr and Erin Twigg.
The three shearing competitions had $8000 in prizemoney.