Months of training has paid off for Cleve Area School students, who have taken out two of the three individual awards in the secondary division of the 2018 National Merino Challenge, held in Adelaide at the weekend.
Year 12 student Angus Tomney was the top performer in the production section and third overall, while year 11 student Mackenley Harradine was the highest scoring in the breeding section.
Cleve Area School agriculture coordinator Aleks Suljagic said the school had been attending the NMC for the past four years but it was the first time they had come away with individual wins.
“It was a real reward for the effort we have put into it with all the learning after hours,” he said.
Mr Suljagic said the NMC was a “very valuable experience” for students passionate about the sheep and wool industry to network with others from across Australia.
“It gives them a much wider appreciation of the skills and management needed for a successful operation in the Merino industry, but more importantly, they have got a great insight into the career pathways into the industry,” he said.
“To date their experience has been on-farm but it extends to showing them careers from to wool production and the meat industry which they don’t get a lot of exposure to over here.”
Prior to the event, the Cleve students honed their skills with a workshop with Burra’s Michelle Cousins.