THE PARKES Show Society was dealt a big blow last week when they had to announce the Show had been cancelled for 2021, but that blow was softened by the good news coming out of the four-year-long wether trial.
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The trial, which began in 2019, involves roughly 125 wethers grazing for free at the Parkes Solar Farm in order to measure different bloodlines in the exact same conditions; with the added bonus of all proceeds going to the Show Society.
On Thursday and Friday last week, the wethers were gathered at Parkes Shire Mayor Ken Keith's (OAM) farm so they could be shorn, weighed and have a side sample taken.
Graeme Ostini, of Ostini Wool, is in charge of the Wether Trial Committee, was stoked with the results so far.
"They are biggest sheep in the Parkes district at the moment, they have been so well looked after," he said on Friday morning in the shearing shed.
"They've been good to handle this morning already, none of them have gotten away and the wool is excellent; we are having a really good wool year.
"It's grown that well, its some of the longest wool I've seen: the bodies are big, the wool is big - everything is big!"
Graeme also took the chance to talk up the recent financial performance of the wool market, which will help get the Show Society as much funds as possible.
"The wool market has made a big recovery with COVID-19 and there is a positive outlook ahead too.
"Because it is so big around the world, and has so much money tied up in it, the wool market always leads up to financial rises and falls and it's a good reader of the stock market.
"90 per cent of the wool has been going to China last few months, but there are a few clues coming out at the moment in the last six to eight weeks that the rest of the world is coming back to life," Graeme said.
Graeme said the ebbs and flows of the wool market have been a bit of a rollercoaster of late, but thinks some very good results are just around the corner.
"At our place (Ostini Wool) the wool store was that backed up we were worried about needing extra storage, but in the last two months it's like someone flicked a switch.
"We have moved more wool in the last six weeks than we've ever moved in a six week period.
"The world is smelling something in the form of a recovery based on what is happening, it just hasn't hit us yet; but I think we are going to see more life in the wool market yet," Graeme said.
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That news will come as a relief to all the amazing volunteers there on Thursday and Friday who were all buzzing around the shearing shed with the productivity of honey bees; and to get between seven and 10 kilograms of wool off the decidedly big wethers is a great result according to Graeme.
"Everything that is going on here today we are really ecstatic about, it is great support because all these guys here have taken the day off their own farm to do this and it's a wonderful effort," he said.
"It's also been great being able to graze on the Parkes Solar Farm, we are able to help them to keep the grass down so they don't have to spray and keep pouring chemicals on it, and we can turn that grass into wool - so it's win win.
"Ken (Keith) and Peter (Guppy) have really kept a good eye on them over the year; they've juggled them around on the solar farm and they've made it work for us, so that the wethers perform well, and do well, so we really have to be grateful for their effort.
"We are also doing this for scientific reasons for the farmers to see what's happening...and the results are going to look really good so I can't wait to get them back."
The good news about how well the trial is going is perfect timing too, after the news last week that the Parkes Show had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns - and Graeme said the money raised from this would be vital to the Parkes Show Society.
"Now we haven't got a local show, this will be one of the biggest events for the society this year, and a bit of extra money that can hopefully keep them alive and well for longer," Graeme said.
"You have to remember that Liz Brown (Parkes Show secretary), Ken Keith, Peter Guppy and all the farmers involved have put all their work and trust in us.
"Without all those people involved, in addition to the sponsors like Geoff Rice of Langlands Hanlon and George Hancock from Allflex/Coopers Animal Health in Forbes, this trial doesn't work, and at the end of the day we're doing all this for the Show Society.
"We'll also probably save two or three fleeces and do a little display for the Show's shop window," Graeme said.
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