You better baaalieve it, the
sheep shearing competitions will be back at Moreton Show on Saturday 7th
September!
Moreton Show hosted their first ever shearing competition in
2023 and it was a huge success. Crowds flocked to the Shearing Marquee,
enjoying the farmtastic atmosphere and the high standard of competition -
accompanied by the phenomenal commentary from living legend Huw Condron.
Moreton Show promises a great spectacle again this year and
hopes to attract even more competitors to the stands as it is one of the last
competitions of the show season. There is also a new class in the schedule: the
‘over 40’s’ class, as well as the usual classes; Junior, Intermediate, Senior
and Open. The over 40’s class should provide great entertainment and will
hopefully attract the older generation of shearers to prove they are not ‘past
it’ quite yet! Please note, entries for the over 40’s class will be taken on
the day only – no advance entries.
Following the success of last year, Moreton Show aims to
continue to promote and encourage an interest in wool, plus the art and skill
of sheep shearing, as well as help to educate people as to why sheep shearing
is so important.
Highly regarded shearer, Stuart Connor, competed at Moreton
Show 2023 and commented: “It was an awesome day, we had a great support and
fantastic sheep, they have been some of the best sheep we’ve had on the whole
of the show circuit this year.”
Sheep shearing not only provides great entertainment in a
competition setting but it is also a necessary task to keep the sheep happy and
clean. If sheep were not sheared, they get extremely hot in the summer months,
and their fleece continues to grow, leading to risks of them getting stuck on
their backs - in the agricultural industry this is referred to as getting
‘cast’.
Ben Cottrell, Chairman of the Shearing Committee, says:
“It’s such an honour to be holding a shearing competition at Moreton Show again
this year. We took a gamble last year, but it completely paid off thanks to
everyone who supported us! We enjoyed a great number of entries and it proved
to be a hit with the spectators too! This year we have some cracking
lambs for the competitors to shear and I look forward to seeing you all there
on Saturday 7th September!”
Moreton Show would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the
Shearing Competition sponsors for their continued support: Lister Shearing
Equipment Ltd for providing the shearing equipment to be used on Show Day, Mr
Stuart Mace, Moreton Show Society Chairman for sponsoring the Junior
competition, Laurence Pierce Wool Merchants for sponsoring the Intermediate
competition, Rugby Farmers Mart for sponsoring the Senior competition, British
Bespoke Auctions for sponsoring the Open competition and the prize for The Shearer
with the Best Pen of Lambs, and McCartneys Worcester for sponsoring the new
over 40’s class. A big thank you also goes to Gordon Gilder Livestock Transport
for hauling the lambs to and from the show safely.
The shearing competition entries are open now and will close
on Monday 12th August 2024, all entries before the closing day
will gain free access to the show. Late entries may be taken on Show Day,
however this will be subject to lamb numbers.
If you’d like to be part of the volunteering team at Moreton
Show, please do give the Office a call on 01608 651 908.
