Wool that would "make underpants for angels" has won well-known NSW breeder Wal Merriman his first ever Royal Queensland Show Merino wool championship.
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Three fleeces that Mr Merriman sent to Cunnamulla, Qld, for judging in conjunction with the Queensland State Sheep Show in May, that weren't taken out of the bale thanks to rain calling off the local show, found their way to Brisbane instead.
After careful appraisal by judge Harold Manttan, AWN, the 11.8kg fleece was judged not only champion fine wool ram's fleece but, with 94 points, the grand champion fleece of the show.
Merryville's two ewe fleeces won both the champion and reserve champion fine wool ewe trophies, with the leading fleece scoring 93.5 points. Each weighed 9.6kg, and all three yielded between 68 and 70 per cent.
"I had these fleeces with nowhere to go so one of the agents said, why don't you bring them to Brisbane, so we worked out a system to get them here," Mr Merriman said.
Calling in to the show on his way to the races, Mr Merriman said the grand champion fleece had been shorn from a ram who was judged the grand champion superfine ram at the Sydney Royal Show in 2021.
"We like a reasonable frame but wool's the main thing," he said.
Victoria Downs Merino stud, Morven, Qld, scored 92.5 points for the reserve champion ram's fleece.
QAS spokesman Bruce Lines said Mr Manttan had 55 fleeces to judge, making a great display on the upper floor of the Royal International Convention Centre.
"We had more the last couple of years, when COVID meant we held the competition at Mitchell and then Morven, (Queensland) and because we had less space at the RICC, we had to scale things back a bit, so I picked out representative fleeces that would do everyone justice," he said.
The superfine class had been dropped from Ekka competition, Mr Lines said, because the numbers weren't coming through, which meant the Merryville fleeces were considered in the fine wool judging.
Mr Manttan gave the champion flock fleece of the show ribbon to David Lennon of Cranbourne, Yelarbon, Qld, which meant the medium fleece also won the champion Queensland-grown Merino flock fleece award.
On the stud side that prize went to Victoria Downs.
Nigel and Rosemary Brumpton, Mt Ascot Merino stud at Mitchell, Qld, picked up the ribbons for champion fine flock fleece, with an entry from their Cunnamulla property Woodstock, while a sheep from their Waratah property, also at Cunnamulla, Qld, won the champion strong wool ribbon.
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