Wether win for Scottsdale handlers
• Successful Scottsdale High School merino wether challenge students Shakira Coker-Williams, Maigen Riley, A'Jana Smith and Adara Hall with Joe Reid, Nick and Ben Bignell.
October 4, 2023
Scottsdale High School’s successful Food and Fibre Agriculture Program can lay claim to a new State title.
Students are celebrating being crowned Grand Champion at the inaugural Tasmanian Merino Wether Challenge, held at Campbell Town last week.
The school was given six Merino sheep from Roger Bignell and Sons’ breeding stock at Waterhouse and students were charged with preparing them for the competition over the past six months.
Eleven schools from across the State, including Winnaleah, took part and teacher Kylie Rattray said it was an honour to win.
“To bring the trophy back to the North-East was pretty impressive. Obviously we need to give credit to the breeders, we only looked after them for six months!” she said.
While Roger celebrated the news in Japan, sons Nick and Ben were back on the 2000ha property, Kananga, which runs 3000 Merino ewes bred over three generations for their fleece quality.
“It is great to get some young kids involved. It is pretty exciting for them to win,” they said.
“It’s the first time we have done it and we will be happy to do it again to get kids involved.
“It is pretty hard for anyone to be interested in Merino sheep and there are not many people coming into the industry because they are hard work but they are very rewarding.
“Dad has been breeding for wool for a long time with a focus on genetics - we won the Bendigo Show best commercial fleece in Australia in 2012.”
Ms Rattray said the preparation had involved breaking in the wethers to lead in the show ring, as well as providing a suitable feeding plan and monitoring their health over the past six months
“The wethers had grown between 60 and 70mm of fleece in that time and the fleece quality and yield of the fleece was critical in the win,” she said.
The challenge was organised by the Midland Agricultural Association, The Stud Breeders Association of Tasmania and Australian Wool Innovation.
On the day, the sheep were assessed on their micron score and fleece length.
They were shown in groups of three for breed characteristics and were judged on hoof presentation, carcase value and fleece value.
Scottsdale Sheep B Team (Shakira, Molly, Maigen) were awarded 1st place in fleece value ($47.91) and Scottsdale Sheep A Team (A’jana, Nikayla, Adara) won 3rd place in fleece value ($43.59). The sheep were placed 10th and 11th in the carcase value category.
Scottsdale A team placed 4th in presentation category.
The Grand Champion Team of three sheep was determined by the aggregate of the points scored across the three judging categories and was won by Scottsdale High School Team B, with total points of 97.94. Scottsdale Team A placed second with 97.12 points.
“This program has extended on the existing food and Fibre Agriculture Program at Scottsdale High School and provided another dimension to the agricultural enterprises and systems students are exposed to. The program has given the students with a real insight into the process of Merino wool production and possible career pathways in this industry.,” Ms Rattray said.
“A special thank you to Roger, Nick and Ben, from Kananga Pastoral for supplying the sheep, Liz Stanfield for accompanying the team, Keeley Lester from Winnaleah for providing student transport and Matthew Cassidy for transporting the sheep to the competition.”