WOOLLY MATTERS of OLD and NEW:
A WOOL TALE FROM AN UNASHAMED SHEEP-HEAD
A BIG SHOUT OUT TO PRESENT AND PAST LOCALS WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR ENERGIES TO THE LOCAL GOONDIWINDI SHOW COMING :
GOONDIWINDI DISTRICT SHOW 150 YEARS 2027.
Goondiwindi Show committee goal to match our 150 years with show fleeces in 2027
Aiming for 150 show fleeces for each year to celebrate our local natural fibre exhibition.
A wool tale story from an 'Unashamed-Septuagenarian-Sheep-Head'
Two properties.
“Elelabra Merino Stud” Established 1879.
“Merriba” Established 1890.
My browsing time picked up some recent [Facebook] exposure of the successes of ‘Elelabra’ clients in local show wool room floor and sheep shows.
Show casing increased interest of young people entering the sheep and wool enterprise choice.
The proactive approach and encouragement to the next generation bodes well for the continuing future of the merino wool and sheep industry.
Not only are they employing young people but they are actively supporting and facilitating future leaders in the industry by competitions.
Reaching also into schools for awareness and tutoring to encourage more into the exiting world of agriculture.
A world of multiple opportunity directions that has sky rocketed in the past decade.
To produce and promote Australia’s natural advantage of a status as an export nation.
A group of young minds, keenly aware with open minds of the need to explore the ‘Current Now’
We cannot measure future direction with a mindset ‘They agree with me, so that is good’
Only an open mind, prepared to explore, question current ideas as the norm, will see our nation progress beyond the current path.
Our family property established 1890 started as a grazing enterprise including a period of a wool boom of “When sheep carried Australia”
My own return in early 1970’s to 2024, coincided with an expansion of farming crops, cattle and reduced enterprise sheep numbers.
All the while at varying numbers, our Merino Egelabra flock remained pure.
Our wool sales topped many Brisbane sales with our long top lines of AAA M
Ewe Classing.
Our flock was classed by a gentleman by the name of Ken Hannah.
Ken was close to retirement, however if I remember correctly, by this time he had classed for my father and grandfather and some final years for myself—three generations !!
Replacement classer came in the form of another fine gentleman of life, Paul Kelly who continued to drive the quality of our ‘Egelabra’ commercial flock upwards.
Our product breathed consistency of:
“Angels Bra’s material” according to Ken Hannah who when looking at a particularly nice fleece.
“My boy, they make ‘Angels Bra’s out of sheep like this”
Similarly, his insistence to immediately cull any fly blown ewe from a clean mob, despite how good the animal looked, has contributed to continued natural resistance to debilitating fly strike.
On the basis we would be breeding an inferior unit that attracted fly strike by individual smell.
Our Enterprise Timeline to now ranged from:
Merino Sheep to Cereal Cropping to Increased Cattle to Increased Cropping
Our Wool:
For a period, we sold under the marketing trade mark of “Egelabra Woolgrower #7”
The Chinese Experiment:
At one stage we joined others in selling our wool direct to China.
From memory the venture wasn’t a huge success, mostly because ‘Chinese Middle Management’ seemed to suck away $$ advantage, using significant delaying tactics and extra costs..
Our wether sheep sales story included repeat buyers of our 2 tooth wethers off shears with buyers fronting up ‘sight unseen’ to buy.
Such was the consistency of the product, they were satisfied buyers every year.
Tic-Tic-Tic The clock ticks
Shows a Septuagenarian @ 76 downsized to a smaller area.of 100 Ha
Complete with a flock of 150 ewes and following younger maiden progeny.
In a New era at 8 Mile under ‘REGENERATION GUIDELINES’
Regeneration grazing principles have contributed also to product resistance of core drought tenderness and worm susceptibility.
So the downsize to current, possibly to niche industry capacity
To stocking rate 'sheep to the acre' sustainably.
To current local show success of 2026, with wool stored in a shed for 15 months.
Fluffed it up, to contribute to the show, happy to contribute and happy to achieve some ribbons in return, in the 200 ewe flock category.
Hazel Posing
Extra life was also given to the fleeces and some of our Egelabra blood wethers, donated to the Dalby local school, under the stewardship of our middle son Ag teacher at Dalby State School.
A pleasure indeed to facilitate and support more young people into our industry.
Sharing my passion with the young remans a particularly pleasurable experience.
2026 WOOL CONTRIBUTION WAITING UNTIL IT IS THEIR TIMEM IN 2027B GDI SHOW
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