Dave an Angie Waters, Alistair Lade and Susan and David Rowbottom shortlisted for woolgrower award

With a focus on focus on production, customer awareness, sustainability and innovation, judges determined Dave and Angie Waters, Hillgrove, NSW, Alistair Lade, Highlands, Victoria, and David and Susan Rowbottom, St Helen as the three finalists.

Fifth and sixth-generation wool producers Dave and Angie Waters' production philosophy has won them the country's most prestigious superfine wool award five times.

The Waters family, including daughters Sarah and Bella, run about 2000 Merino sheep across their 567-hectare Hillgrove property, Tarrangower Merinos, near Armidale, NSW, where they grow stylish, soft, bright, white fleece, that averages 15 micron.

Sought after by European spinners, their fleece strength averages from 45-50Nkt, which Mr Waters attributed to a meticulous focus on wool quality and clip preparation.

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Two shearers are employed for the September shearing, held a month prior to October lambing to manage potential tender wool.

Mr Waters classes the clip alongside his father Noel and Angie.

The five-time winner of the Ermenegildo Zegna Superfine Wool Trophy, the Waters family also took out the 2022 Australian Superfine Wool Growers Association grand champion fleece this year.

Tarrangower's winning bale from their commercial mob recorded a micron average of 15, 75.7 yield, tensile strength of 47, with an 90-millimetre staple length.

One-third of their wether flock are now retained to help produce the stylish wool Zegna chases.

"If we had a legacy it would be our focus on quality," Mr Waters said.

"The success we have had is a bonus but it doesn't change the way we grow year to year - we remain focused on quality and try and do the best we can."

The Tarrangower's adult Merino flock averaged 15.3 micron, with hoggets testing 13.1-14.6 micron.

Mr Waters said he was experimenting with selecting the stud's finer microns to target a contracting supply of extra ultrafine wools.

"By selecting freer growing types we have moved finer," he said.

"Now there is a price premium we see more potential exploring low micron wools especially given the continuing trend in the industry for larger, heavier cutting sheep."

He said a trip to Italy to witness the making of fabric was a "monumental moment" in their passionate wool growing career.

Alistair Lade has bred a globally-revered ultrafine Merino flock, 20 years after being devastated by Ovine Johnes disease.

In 1998, the Highlands woolgrower was given the heartbreaking news to euthanise two-thirds of his Merino flock after rams tested positive for OJD.

He protected one-third of his breeding nucleus at another property and embarked on an aggressive embryo transfer and artificial insemination program, at a cost of $120 a live lamb, or $230 in today's value, to rebuild a devastated flock.

"We tried to re-stock with sheep purchased from across Tasmania, NSW and Victoria but all we got were sheep that were nowhere near as good and that bought in eight strains of footrot," Mr Lade said.

Twenty ewes of the remaining 2000 breeders were chosen for a five-year ET program, with some of the original breeders' genetics still evident in the flock today.

"One of the top ewes over the five programs ended up with 85 live lambs," he said.

"It was double what you could buy a ewe for but I knew the genetics was far superior."

He now operates one of the highest-performing Merino operations in Agriculture Victoria's Farm Monitor project, running 18 dry sheep equivalent a hectare, across the Lades' 900 hectares of grazable land.

This includes 350 cattle and 10,000 ultrafine Merino sheep, which average 15.2-micron and yield 32,000 kilograms of wool annually.

"I wanted to be at the top end of the market so I began micron testing because there were significant premiums for the finer end 20 years ago," he said.

"We found the sheep ranged in micron from 14 to 27 - we were shocked to find how strong the broad end was."

This meant there were some Merinos cutting a $15 fleece, and others returning $150, and triggered a casting program to remove the flock's 15 per cent lowest performing.

"In eight years we pulled our clip from 19.5 micron down to 15.2 micron and we were able to do that without losing fleece weight," Mr Lade said.

This high-performing operation is based on animal health and nutrition, where worm egg counts are conducted every six weeks from weaning to identify health issues early, and an annual pasture renovation program ensures quality nutrition.

Olsen P ranges from 15-20 milligrams a kilogram and single super is applied at 150kg/ha/year, with 40ha of paddocks renovated annually.

Today he is "extremely proud" of his operation and has become the pin-up woolgrower for ultrafine Merino, often hosting wool processors and fashion designers from across the world.

The clip is Authentico accredited and is currently in the process of Responsible Wool Standard accreditation, which Mr Lade said would allow more European processors to compete for his premium fibre.

"There is talk that the finer wool should be classed as a noble fibre than a commodity," he said.

"Now consumers and retailers are looking for naturally sustainable and environmentally friendly products and close to the skin, ultrafine wool fits that criteria well."

Champion woolgrowers David and Susan Rowbottom have been nominated for Troy Labortories Woolgrower of the Year for their commitment to conservation and breeding excellence.

The elite superfine woolgrowers operate at Rowensville, St Helens, near Yambuk, and average a 14-micron wool clip.

The Rowbottoms hold several Australian seasonal records for prices of wool sold by auction and won the International Ermenegildo Zegna Vellus Aureum fleece awards six times.

They are conservationists and set aside land to protect the endangered Southern Brown Bandicoot, and ceased mulesing in 1979 by breeding a Merino that produced exceptional wool.