Blade shear competitors in action at the 2019 expo, where Shannon Mitchell took honours.
Click go the shears.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
It’s a famous song and it was once the most common noise you would hear in the shearing sheds, now replaced by the incessant buzzing of electric shears.
But the art of blade shearing is still an important one for sheep breeders.
That’s why a competition to test both speed and ability with the blades was introduced to the annual Riverina Elders Sheep Expo held in Deniliquin.
Elders Deniliquin livestock production advisor and expo coordinator Errol Horneman said it is always a popular part of the day.
“Blade shearing is a bit of a dying art, and you only really see hand shearing for stud stock for showing,” Mr Horneman said.
“For showing, sheep are allowed only 15mm of wool at the beginning of March.
“That allowance increases as the season continues.
“The blades are used for this because it gives you a nice clean cut to appeal to the judges, and it also helps to not compromise wool growth.”
Mr Horneman said Elders Deniliquin have arranged for 10 ewes to be shingled ahead of next week’s competition.
He said they hope they can also get 10 competitors to register, and put on a show for all the spectators.
Anyone interested in taking part is encouraged to sign up on the day of the expo.
“We’ll be testing on both speed and quality, so even though you finish first you might not necessarily win.”
The last blade shearing competition, held in 2019, was won by Shannon Mitchell, with second place to Bruce Rollinson and third place going to Tom Lilburne. In 2018, Serpentine-based Simon Coutts took honours. The blade shear competition has been a popular part of the Elders Riverina Sheep Expo since being introduced in 2015.
Serpentine-based blade shearer Simon Coutts checks his work before being crowned the 2018 blade shear champion.
11°C