Donald and Linda Macrae

DONALD AND LINDA MCCRAE

Full wool sheep add spectacle to wool handling

Most sheep in New Zealand are normally shorn twice a year, in autumn and spring. But that wasn’t always the case.

Up until around 30 to 40 years ago, they used to be shorn annually, just the once, around November/December This produced thick, full wool eeces of the type that make a spectacle of the wool handling events at the Golden Shears, that tests the wool handlers abilities.

So every year, the Golden Shears requires around 600 sheep for its wool handling competition to be full wool. For the past three years this responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of Donald and Linda Macrae who run a 2100 acre sheep & beef farm in rolling hill country at Gladstone.

As well as supplying full wool romneys, the couple. who are assisted on the farm by their son Mat, also provide around the same number of two tooths for the shearing events. The initial 350 acre farm was established after World War 1 by Donald’s grandfather Donald and then taken over by his son Alasdair who was a volunteer at the Golden Shears for many years. Donald followed in his father’s footsteps in running the farm and helping at the Golden Shears, and the couple were asked four years ago if they would be happy to take over the important job of supplying the full wool sheep after the previous supplier, Cross Keys farm at Whareama was sold. Donald agreed, although he was worried about some of the uncertainties of keeping hundreds of sheep unshorn for 12 months. “Initially I thought there would be problems such as cast sheep, y strike, and the wool being entangled with vegetable matter. “I was also worried that the full wool sheep would lose condition at a critical time just before they were put out to ram.

“But the sheep came through well the rst year, so I have been happy to carry on.” Around a month before the Golden Shears starts, volunteer Ken McPherson and his team come out to the farm to select the sheep for the shearing events, aiming for consistency. The week of the Golden Shears, the wool handling sheep are trucked to the farm of Nathan Williams at Te Ore Ore, where they provide grazing and wool shed facilities at no charge, then returned to White Spur after being shorn.

While Donald sees it as a honour to provide sheep for the prestige event, he does get a bit nervous. “You are putting your ewes up for shearers who shear some of the best show shearing sheep in New Zealand.” Golden Shears committee member Philip Morrison describes them as “very good stock.”

“I was also worried that the full wool sheep would lose condition at a critical time just before they were put out to ram. But the sheep came through well the first year, so I have been happy to carry on.”

Mat, Linda and Donald Macrae.

Ca fé Solway

& GOLF DRIVIN G RANGE

E10

PORIRUA

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