About 65 people followed competition judges in a circuit that visited nine properties to the south of Bathurst city.

The maiden ewes that were entered in the competition by Terry and Kath Dolbel were judged as the winning team and were awarded the Jack Seaman Memorial Trophy.

These young sheep were presented at "Milton Vale", Triangle Flat and pastures at the property are in great heart after many years of drought.

Second place and the Bob Bryden Trophy went to the Owens family, "Nanena", The Lagoon with a team of robust ewes that were pretty hard to fault.

In third place was a very modern team entered by Frances and Jeff McSpedden, The Lagoon.

This team probably showed us the future direction for many breeders: high fertility and lambing percentages, acceptable wool quality and quantity and sheep that shearers like.

They won the Nutrien Trophy.

The Elders Encouragement Award went to Andrew and Ros Larnach and their boys with a team of recently shorn Winyar blood ewes: big square frames, properly mulesed and clear, open faces.

There are very good ewes at "Oaklands", Rockley.

MUCH comment was made at the competition on the real shortage of shearers, wool handlers and general farm workers.

Even tractor drivers are hard to source as the capable, willing workers are finding plenty of well-paid jobs as contractors and we all realise that good jobs with good money are available on factory production lines.

It is a brave producer who would sack an average employee in any farm business as he may not be able to replace them.

One tablelands farmer tells me that his shearing will start in early April "with or without shearers".

Not many school leavers look forward to transport pick up at 6am and set down at 6pm for wool handler jobs, but those with a genuine work ethic and an interest in working with a team will certainly enjoy the job.

SOME comments on the Bathurst Merino Association ewe comp:

About 65 spectators enjoyed the chance to mingle with their peers, actually shake hands with old friends and simply have a yarn.

OTHER RECENT RURAL NOTEBOOK COLUMNS:

ON the subject of sheep and wool, please get your fleeces ready for the Royal Bathurst Show. Inquiries to Brian Seaman on 0428 373 828.

SYMPATHY is offered to the Lowry family at Perthville on the passing of their wife, mother and grandmother June Lowry after some years of ill health.

June was a stalwart of the Perthville Public School, where she was employed for a long time, and she taught karate in the Village Hall for many years.

June's husband Alan was a wool buyer and classer at Thomas Green in Bathurst, and well respected across the district until his retirement.

THE autumn season has dried off quickly and clouds of light dust are obvious on unsealed country roads.

Country from around Coonamble to the south is still in excellent condition, but to the north of that district is being reported as "needing autumn rainfall".

I'm told that large parts of our North West and much of Western Queensland are showing serious moisture deficiency and we must ponder if southern cattle markets can hold at close to present rates.

Of course, many facets of current beef and store cattle markets could settle to 20 per cent lower and still be viable.

PETER and Megan Rutherford, Stanford Working Kelpies, report a successful sale of two of their young dogs at Jerilderie working dog auction several weeks ago.

They sold Que for $16,000 and Quartz for $12,000.

The $18,750 sale topper, named Ninja, was a three-year-old dog of the Stanford breed on account of another breeder.

In another life, I often appreciated Peter and his Stanford dogs as they worked as a team. The dogs were really alert and willing.

A leading sheep producer made the same comment last week as he added "two of Pete's dogs do the work of three men".

AS we prepare to line up for the COVID vaccine, we must be grateful for our leaders' handling of the worldwide pandemic. At this stage, our country seems to have dodged a bullet.

In early March 2020, we were told to expect 150,000 COVID deaths in Australia by now.

Many of us over 70 years are relieved that this prediction was wrong.

Our health authorities and health workers are really our national heroes.

WEEK 36 saw an offering of 46,544 bales with a clearance rate of 91 per cent.

At the end of the week, we saw the EMI close 4ac up at 1310ac/kg. This was a great result considering the large offering, with some exporters facing financial restraints.

Despite this, the demand for merino wool is good. However, the slowing of the logistics chain is causing a greater lag time for some payments. These financial restraints are limiting exporters' capacity to take on the number of new orders they would like to take on.

The market is strong, and sentiment is positive.

Crossbred fleece wool rose 5ac for the week. Some poorly prepared clips carrying cott and colour have been hit with discounts of up to 90c/kg greasy.

I came across an interesting statistic today. Australia now has 36pc of the global sheep meat market, while New Zealand has 30pc. Africa and South East Asia are the biggest growth markets.

Week 37 shows a roster of 50,000 bales selling in Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.

IT was a noisy, stormy night in a farm homestead and four-year-old Harry was restless and frightened of the thunder.

He pleaded with mummy to sleep in his room, but was told: "No, darling, I have to sleep in daddy's room."

The little bloke was sad and said: "I think daddy might be a big sook."

***

IN a faraway farmhouse, dad came home earlier than expected and sprung his wife with a neighbour.

After a very frank exchange of views, the neighbour left in a hurry.

Little wife suggested: "You'll have to stop going on like that or we won't have any friends left."

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