Wethers Rock-solid in Ovens Valley trial

Riverina breeder and first round winner of the Ovens Valley Wether Trial Darren Bahr, CJ&CR&DW Bahr, The Rock, NSW, with one of his top valued fleeces.

STOCK & LAND | 05 Jun, 2014RIVERINA breeder Darren Bahr,

CJ & CR & DW Bahr, The Rock, NSW, won the first round of the three-year Ovens Valley Wether Trial last Tuesday.

Eleven months ago, breeders entered a line of up to five 2012-drop wethers in the competition, hosted on Mark Heywood’s family farm at Everton.

This week marked the first testing period of the 35 teams entered, focusing on who had the fleece of the highest value.

Mr Bahr (pictured) was a first-time entrant, encouraged to enter by his stud breeder Tim Westblade, Pastora Poll Merino Stud, Lockhart, NSW.

“I had no idea how they would go, we came here just to use it as a bit of a benchmarking tool and we were quite surprised,” Mr Bahr said.

Mr Bahr’s five wethers recorded a wool value of $76.82, an average fleece weight of 7.77 kilograms and 16.1-micron in the first round of testing.

Fellow NSW breeder J&R Dawson, Canowindra, NSW, was runner-up, averaging $69.06 for five fleeces of av 8.18kg and 18.9M.

NSW breeders Keith and Sue Mitchell, Tooma, finished third with wool value of av $67.83 after averaging a total weight of 7.98kg and a micron average of 19.

Trial organiser Russell Bennett said the event was a major success in its 29th consecutive year.

Elders Wangaratta branch manager Rex Bennett said the aim of the competition was to show the importance of key production characteristic’s that influence profitability.

“[This is] by encouraging increased productivity in commercial flocks by creating an awareness of the large differences in productivity,” Mr Bennett said.

The wethers will remain on the Heywood property until the competition ends in 2016, with fleece judging to be held each year.

The three fleece values plus an additional meat value at the end of the third year are added together to give an overall value, with the line with the highest value declared the winner.