John picks right for top fleece

WHEN shearing finished in John Humbert’s shed in March, he put aside what he considered the best fleeces from the Kedleston Park Stud’s first clip of the year.

Over the next three months, spare time was spent picking through the special clips and selecting entries for the Australian Fleece Competition.

“I’d spend time going over each fleece, hopefully picking the right one,” he said on Sunday after winning the performance class section for the second time in three years with a 17.8 micron fleece shorn on March 7.

And this year, the Calival stud went better by winning the performance class championship and the most valuable fleece award in his section.

John Farrer, of Elanvale, Pyramid Hill, made it a top two Loddon finish with his commercial flock 19.7 micron fleece being awarded the reserve champion flock.

Many exhibited fleeces, including’s the one entered by John Farrer, have been donated for auction with funds raised to be donated to Down Syndrome Australia. The fleece competition has now raised more than $204,000 for charity over more