GEORGINA and Hamish Wallace, from Trefusis Merino stud, Ross, Tasmania, have taken out the grand champion fleece title with a superfine Merino fleece at the Australian Fleece Competition held at the Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo.
This major national wool benchmarking competition is the largest fully measured fleece contest in the world and attracted almost 500 entries, from more than 200 exhibitors, this year.
Ms Wallace said the winning fleece was off a ewe named Josie, named after her mother, which was Reserve Champion Merino Fine Wool Ewe at Bendigo last year.
Now in its 15th year, The Australian Fleece Competition, is a joint effort by Landmark, Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA) and the Australian Sheep Breeder’s Association (ASBA).
Almost two thirds of the fleeces on show were donated by exhibitors for auction at the completion of the competition, with all proceeds going to this year’s nominated charity, Life’s Little Treasures Foundation.
The Grand Champion 17.8-micron fleece scored 94.55 out of a possible 100 points.
PT Venning from Clare, South Australia, won three of major awards including the Reserve Grand Champion Fleece, scoring 93.65 for a 17.1M Extra Superfine Merino fleece; the Champion Commercial fleece and; the Most Successful Exhibitor award.
One of the judges, United Wool Company director Andrew Jackson praised the entries’ high quality and said commercial fleece entries, in particular, reflected the tougher conditions, with a large number displaying variation in staple conformity.
Competition convener, Landmark’s Athol Frederick, said commercial entries outnumbered stud entries for the first time this year, which indicated the fully measured criteria was beneficial for growers.
The Performance Class, which caters for exhibitors shearing in six to eight-month cycles commercially, continues to grow, and was taken out this year by L & M Proctor, Kooreh.