Ted fleeces his rivals

The veteran woolgrowers also added grand champion commercial fleece this year to their trophy, sash and certificate collection, a win that particularly pleased Ted.

Champion and reserve champion farmer’s ewe or wether fleece and champion farmer’s ram fleece were other highly-regarded wins.

Ted and Bev Hill’s names have featured prominently in the Royal Agricultural Society of WA’s Royal Show wool section competition results – particularly in the sections for paddock-run sheep – for almost a quarter century.

The zone-three unhoused and unrugged categories have been their happy competition hunting ground most years, with this year no exception.

The Hills won overall champion fleece zone three for a third year running and the most successful exhibitor in zone three special award for a fourth year in a row.

Ted, 72, claims to have a “woolpack” full of show ribbons back home at West River near Ravensthorpe.

Over the years their fleece entries have won most competition categories, including the coveted supreme champion fleece award - they won that one for the first time in 1993.

Beating big-name sheep studs in competition delights Ted, but as a former shearer who jumped the fence and became a commercial wool producer in 1975, he is most proud of the farmer’s fleece wins they have collected over the years.

In his view, they more truly represent the overall quality of the flock they have built up – in recent years their flock numbers have ranged between 4000 and 5000 – than sashes won by specialist wool carefully clipped from select, pampered sheep.

Ted, who with wife Bev at his side, accepted the couple’s latest grand champion and reserve grand champion trophies, sashes and ribbons on Sunday evening at the Jim Horwood Pavilion, admitted they might not make a quarter century competing in the show’s wool section.

This year was the couple’s 24th consecutive year of submitting Merino fleece for judging in the Royal Show wool section.

They entered 14 fleeces, aiming to beat last year’s best ever 13 ribbons, in what may be their last year competing in the wool section.

Ted admitted he might have sold the farm.

Come Royal Show time next year he may not have sheep and, if he does, he might not qualify for the farmer’s fleece section any more.

But, if his plans work out, he might be back in 2019 showing Poll Hereford cattle instead of Merino fleece, he said with a broad smile.

“Earlier in the year I had a fella come in and ask whether I’d be prepared to sell and for how much?” Ted said.

“I said I was and named a price.

“The fella came back a little while ago, asked if I was still prepared to sell because he could meet the price I wanted.

“I’ve now accepted a tender to sell the property,” he said.

Ted and Bev have three blocks at West River after selling a second farm last year.

They had settled on their home block, a ‘conditional purchase’ block, 42 years ago when their around-Australia working holiday ran out of money in Ravensthorpe leaving them with just $600 working capital.

Ted found work shearing around Ravensthorpe and started his own flock with 90 old ewes bought from a client with a shearing pay cheque.

Originally from Kimba in South Australia, he initially favoured Collinsville Merino stud bloodlines to build his flock then switched to rams from Ashgrove Merino stud, Esperance.

For the past six years he has used rams from Lachlan Lewis’ Pallinup River stud, Gnowangerup.

Ted’s philosophy has always been to use the best rams he could afford.

His lightly-run pure Merino and first-cross Poll Dorset flock tallied 4000 this year.

After an annual shearing disrupted by rain and wet sheep, he sold 99 bales of 20-21 micron wool from what might be his last clip to a top of 1200 cents a kilogram greasy with Elders at the Western Wool Centre four weeks ago.

If the sale of their West River property goes through, the plan is to buy a much smaller rural property close to Perth, probably somewhere near Pinjarra, and move there.

“The trouble is, I’ve got to sell 10 acres down here (West River) to buy three acres up there,” Ted said.

His dream is to establish a small herd of Poll Hereford cattle.

“Back in South Australia 45 years ago I had Poll Herefords and I’ve always wanted to do that again,” he said.

“This might be my last chance to have another crack at it.”

But he conceded he was unlikely to own a rural property without sheep on it.

“I’m enjoying what I’m doing – I love life so why shouldn’t I smile and laugh?

“I had an old farmer come in the other day and he was amazed because here I am at 72 years of age still crutching my own sheep and happy doing it,” he said.

“I could see myself running a small flock, maybe 20 ewes – I might still be able to put a fleece into the show next year, we’ll have to wait and see.”

The potential loss of the Hills from the farmers fleece section would end one of the great annual rivalries within the wool competition.

In recent years the zone-three farmers fleece category has been a contest between the Hills and at least one of the WA College of Agriculture campuses for top honours.

Zone three covers a huge slab of the eastern, central and western Wheatbelt, from the south coast north to Wongan Hills and butts up to Perth’s outer-east suburbs.

WA College of Agriculture’s Cunderdin, Narrogin, Denmark and Harvey campuses have all given the Hills a run for their money in that category over the years.

But, even if they only have 20 sheep next year, the Hills may still have a fleece worthy of entering in at least one of the show categories and there’s always a possibility of another supreme champion fleece.

As a race horse owner and self-confessed competitive person, Ted proclaims contests are all about giving it your best shot and the “thrill of the chase”.

Winning is a bonus.