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KANIVA stud breeder Hannaton Merinos have once again had a strong showing in the annual Mundulla Agricultural Bureau Hoggett Competition in South Australia.
Hannaton client of more than 15 years Greg Growden, Wangoola Downs, achieved a remarkable trifecta taking out all three awards on the day.
In more than 15 years as a competitor, he has enjoyed numerous successes including fleece of the day in 2010-2013 and runner-up in the 2015 fleece classes, but this year’s winning result was even more special.
His two outstanding long-stapled merino fleeces came up trumps in the Team of Two class. Both weighed nearly 10kg skirted. The 20.9 and 20.4 micron fleeces were valued at $228.07.
Mr Growden also won the Ed Champness Perpetual Trophy for the highest value fleeced of the day.
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The superb fleece weighed in at 11.75kg with a yield of 73% had a total value of $121.18.
To complete his remarkable performance he also took out the award in the meat class, with his three wethers valued at $335.95.
Each of the 13 entrants selected a team of three wethers, which were run on the Salmon’s property for the past year. Prior to shearing, they choose their two best sheep for judging.
Mr Growden says the competition highlights the excellent returns for those with self-replacing merino flocks.
“There is money in merinos – not everyone has to go cropping or crossbreds,” he said.
It is also a great benchmark to compare the performance of his Hannaton-blood hoggets against other bloodlines in the district.
“We are getting very white wools which are soft handling with plenty of nourishment,” Mr Growden said.
“They have handled the conditions of a long dry year really well.”
Wool judge and Landmark wool area manager Steve Averay praised the display of sound, high yielding wool.
“A lot of the sheep are cutting 7kg-10kg and with greasy fleece values about $10/kg, they are making $100 a fleece which is fantastic money,” he said.
“There is very little difference between 19 to 22 to 23M so our type of heavy cutting sheep in this area is going very well.”
Hannaton studmaster Jonno Hicks said he was thrilled with the result.
“Our clients have had great results in the past and dominated the fleece sections, but to now win the highest meat value for the last three years shows the real dual purpose nature of our sheep.”
Twelve teams in total have been nominated for the 2017 competition, which will see the judging brought forward from August to February next year.
The fleeces will be displayed at the Mundulla Show.