Global event offers SA Merino insight

Organised by Merino SA, the six-day event - run from Sunday, September 4 to Friday, September 9 - aims to attract hundreds of international and local delegates to SA, and will incorporate some the state's biggest sheep events into its program.

"Show week in SA has been really popular with Merino people, not only within SA but across Australia, and in the past few years we've certainly found a lot of international interest as well,"

"We felt that the show was a really good drawcard and capitalised on the interest of it to convert what is an enjoyable visit for people into a proper, week-long program for people in the sheep industry."

He said final plans were still a long way off, but organisers were aiming to put together a diverse program, incorporating more practical experiences than were usually possible as part of the World Merino Conference.

"We will have a conference day, because we think that's important, but we also felt that it would be great for them to get out and see some sheep," he said.

"I think it's really important with such a vertically integrated industry that we touch a lot of bases with the conference.

"We're planning to cover everything from wool marketing and fashion, all the way back to sheep production improvements and the latest technology - we want to hit all points along the sheep production process. We'll also be covering the sheepmeat side of the industry, it's not all going to be about wool.

"A panel session of international speakers to give us a global update is also certainly part of the plan.

"We really want people to come away feeling as though they've had a day of insightful sessions. We want to make sure that the speakers we put on hit all the right notes so everyone feels it was worthwhile."

In addition to the conference day, delegates will also have the opportunity to see Merino judging at the show, and attend the Classings Classic and Adelaide Merino Ram sales.

"We're looking at more than 400 people for the conference day on the Tuesday, but we're optimistic that we could be looking at even twice that number for the Murray Bridge Classings Classic day," Mr Hills said.

He said the idea of holding a global event in Adelaide was first mooted after several Merino breeders lamented the long period in between World Merino Conferences, which are held every four years.

"Everybody said it would be great to get together more often, so we've decided to put on this event every four years in between world conferences," he said.

World Federation of Merino Breeders president Tom Ashby, North Ashrose, Gulnare, floated the idea at the world conference in South Africa last year to gauge the level of interest internationally, and Mr Hills said breeders had been very encouraging of the concept.

"We're really excited about what's going on, and informal feedback so far has been very encouraging," he said.

Mr Hills said he expected the event's appeal to spread well beyond the local Merino industry, with show week already proving popular.

"It's quite common for a delegation from one of the South American countries to come across, and there's usually some New Zealanders as well as good representation from Vic and NSW," he said.