Upper South East woolgrowers – Woidt Family Farms – have been recognised as the state’s best in Elders’ Supreme Clip of the Year Awards for their well-bred, stylish wool.
Gerald and Margaret, Kingsley and Tracey, and Chris and Alison Woidt, Coomandook, were the August monthly winner, scoring 93 out of a possible 100 points for their G&MW branded bales.
The 64 bales which sold in Melbourne auction 8 were selected from nearly 110,000 bales Elders marketed in 2016-17 from close to 1000 growers.
Elders Clip of the Sale awards recognise those clips which stand out to the buying trade.
Points are allocated for wool style, crimp definition and dust penetration as well as branding descriptions, lotting order and lot size, skirting and clarity of classers specification.
The Woidt’s wool, which was shorn in early August, from their three-year-old ewes, was the first consignment of about 300 bales sold in their annual clip.
Elders southern zone wool sales manager Lachie Brown – who announced the supreme clip at Elders head office last week in Adelaide – said it stood out on the show floor and visually attracted the buyers.
It measured well with a high tensile strength of 43.6 Newtons per kilotex and a mid point break of 63 per cent.
Owner classer Kingsley Woidt said the family, who run sheep with cropping, were “very honoured” to win.
“There are a lot of good wools and good studs breeding good wools,” he said.
“In 2015 it was a dry year so there was not much seed and burr and then we had a good start to 2016 so the wool did not have a lot of vegetable matter and it was high yielding.”
Kimgsley thanked their shed staff and paid tribute to Ridgway Advance stud principal David Ridgway, Bordertown, for classing their medium wool flock.
The Woidts have been using Ridgway Advance bloodlines for more than a decade.
“Quite a few years breeding have gone into our flock and the Ridgway Advance rams are giving us long stapled, free growing wools with good crimp definition,” he said.
“We are also getting higher yields with less grease.”
Elders district wool manager Trevor Smith said it was a just reward for his clients’ meticulous clip preparation and selecting top rams.
ELDERS WOOL MONTHLY WINNERS
- July: JAS Mosey & Co, Kungara, Robertstown
- August: Woidt Family Farms, Coomandook
- September: John Gall & Co, Langawirra, Broken Hill
- October: WL&MB Williams & Son Pty Ltd, Remo, Elliston
- November: TJ, WC&MJ Fiebig, Hilton Heath/K, Keith
- December: Moorundie Park Pty Ltd, Moorundie Park, Gulnare
- January: GM&MJ Glynn, GM&MJ/Glynn, Kingscote
- February: Willson River Trading, W/Bar/Willson River, Penneshaw
- March: Kadlunga Proprietors, Kadlunga, Mintaro
- April: Mutooroo Pastoral Co Pty Ltd, Mulyungarie, Cockburn
- May: Upalinna Pty Ltd, Upalinna, Hawker
- June: Mt Eba Trading Pty Ltd, Mt Eba, Woomera