COMMERCIAL wool producers exhibiting for the first time have taken top honours in the wool pavilion at the 70th Esperance Show.
Geoff and Ann Thomason, Two Rivers Estate, Coomalbidgup, entered four 2.5yo ewe fleeces and walked away with prizes for all of them including the coveted supreme grand champion fleece award.
The supreme fleece, which came from the medium wool category, scored 87 out of 105 points to finish one point ahead of a superfine fleece entered by last year's supreme fleece winners Terry and Marion Mitchell, TH & MH Mitchell, Esperance.
Mr Thomason said he had been encouraged to enter fleeces this year after his brother (Paul Thomason), did so with success last year.
Two Rivers Estate also showed the winning fine and strong wool farmers' fleeces and added a second place in the medium wool category to its awards haul.
Mr Thomason paid tribute to his parents Richard and Jennifer Thomason, who retired from farming last year but whom he said were instrumental in establishing the Merino flock when they moved from Mt Barker 26 years ago and also the Griffiths family's Canowie Fields bloodlines they have been breeding from for the past 15 years.
"Their rams have done a great job for us," Mr Thomason said.
"We've had one of our wettest years with 650mm so far including 200mm in April (the average annual is 550mm) but our wools have remained soft and as white as white."
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The Thomasons are currently running 1000 breeding ewes as part of a mixed enterprise incorporating cropping of canola and wheat and Hereford-Angus cattle.
But they used to run up to 6000 head mated to Merinos and Poll Dorsets, before ironically a lack of stock water in a run of dry years at their Gairdner property prompted a flock reduction.
Mr Mitchell entered five fleeces this year, two from rams, two from ewes and one from a purple tag wether and it was the wether that claimed grand champion local farmers fleece.
The specialist wool producers run about 100 ewes mostly Saxon and Misty Hills blood with some Wattledale.
Mr Mitchell said he had always loved wool and switched from a medium wool and prime lamb enterprise to the Saxon superfine wools about 30 years ago.
"You have to do what you like or you won't be good at what you do," Mr Mitchell said.
Also avid wool fans, Bruce and Trudy Pengilly, Penrose stud, Esperance, have exhibited every year at the Esperance Show since 1981 but it's a very different clip they are displaying now having moved to eight months shearings.
"Through genetic improvement we are cutting as much in eight months now as we were in 12 months 10 years ago and we were starting to be penalised for too much staple length," Mr Pengilly said.
"The sheep do better with the more frequent shearing and we have not mulesed for five years."
One of six stylish ewe fleeces they entered was awarded grand champion stud fleece of the show.
In his 13th year running the wool section, Mr Beaton said in total 88 fleeces were shown this year, considerably less than last year, but with wet weather and shearer availability holding up shearing programs, many growers did not have fleeces available.
Given changing trends in the wool industry and many more producers opting for eight-month shearings, the competition next year will be split to accommodate full wools and shorter wools in separate categories.
Judge Stuart Matthews, Elders district wool manager agreed it was difficult to judge varying shearing related wool lengths in one class and said there was also genetic variation of bulk versus style for some fleeces
"Style is more attractive, but bulk is still where the money is at present," Mr Matthews said.
He also noted the effects of the wet weather with more colour in some of the fleeces but said the top fleeces were quite outstanding earning them top points for uniformity of length, tensile strength, colour and evenness.
