SHEEP have been a part of Alan Harris\u2019s life for as long as he can remember.<\/p>\n
These days the successful Costerfield-based Merino breeder is a regular on the show circuit and his daughter is also starting to collect ribbons in handling and judging categories.<\/p>\n
With three reserve champions and a champion fine March shorn ewe from his Koole Vale Merino & Poll Merino Stud at the recent Victorian Sheep Show in Ballarat, he now has his sights set on the upcoming Australian Sheep and Wool Show in Bendigo.<\/p>\n
Last year he achieved his best-ever result in the national competition with a grand champion fine wool ram, plus three champion rams and two reserve champion rams, as well as three places in the fleece competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you never know how you’re going to go,\u201d he said. \u201cThe next show might be different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ava Harris, 16, took out an overall equal third place in a field of more than 30 entrants in the over 13s junior handling at Ballarat and won the Malcolm Holding Memorial Award in the Merino class.<\/p>\n
This is on top of first place in the junior judging at the Wimmera Autumn Merino Sheep Show in March.<\/p>\n
She said that was her second judging competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did it at Wimmera in 2022,\u201d she said. \u201cJust to have a go really and learn from it, but it was good experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously I’ve been with dad on the farm, and he talks about the sheep, about the terminology you use, what makes a good sheep, but that was really all I had done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Harris said sheep would always play a part in her life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not exactly sure what career path I want to take yet,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I definitely don’t want to just leave the sheep because I really enjoy that aspect of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Harris said he enjoyed working with his daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe’s a great help and she loves doing it,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I’m never going to try and force someone to take a career path that they don’t want.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s got to be sustainable and viable, and they’ve got to want it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSheep is one of those things, you’ve got to want to do it because they can be frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Harris said he grew up on a farm and became a sheep farmer when he left school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bought my first stud ewes when I was 19, and we registered the stud in 1995,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe logical choice was the Merino as there are lots of them around Central Victoria so it\u2019s easier to sell rams, my dad\u2019s always run Merinos too.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that was a way to start my business and value-add to the farm, we’re not a big farm so that was the idea, sell rams and make ourselves a bit more viable.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we just love the stud show side of it, so it wasn’t long before we started showing and that was good for promotion too, getting ourselves out there to a wider audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Harris is always on the lookout for ways to boost wool as a product and in 2018 he was one of more than 400 woolgrowers who donated part of a fleece to the Flock to Baggy Green project.<\/p>\n
It netted about 500 kilograms, or enough to make caps for the Australian cricket team over the next 100 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love watching cricket,\u201d he said, \u201cand when this came up it was great opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s getting the message out there about wool.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think it’s a great product, it’s renewable, it’s breathable and all those wonderful natural things, it fits where the world is right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe exciting bit is just getting our message through and getting that product out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SHEEP have been a part of Alan Harris\u2019s life for as long as he can remember. These days the successful Costerfield-based Merino breeder is a regular on the show circuit and his daughter is also starting to collect ribbons in handling and judging categories. With three reserve champions and a champion fine March shorn ewe […]<\/p>\n