Progeny from 17 stud rams will be displayed at an Australian Wool Innovation event and their crossing with Roseville Park ewes will be of interest.

Four of the studs that are represented are based on SRS genetics, while several others have extra heavy wool cuts as their prime objective.

For those who still like looking at sheep, the BMA Annual Ram Expo will be held on Saturday, August 13 at Bathurst Showground from 10am to 3pm.

The following Sunday may be declared a day of rest with no mention of sheep or wool to be allowed.

AN Australian Wool Innovation-sponsored novice shearing and wool handler training school will be held on a Bathurst district property on August 22 to 25.

Spaces are limited and entrants must pre-register, with details provided at that time.

I believe that the school will be conducted on a property that is within 20 minutes of Bathurst Post Office and that the sheep will be pretty plain bodied and comb well.

I found the site by Googling "Shearing wool handlers school Bathurst" and registration can be made at that point.

RECENT RURAL NOTEBOOK COLUMNS:

THE varroa mite invasion into our bee industry is causing real problems for our beekeepers statewide and the general community can only offer verbal support and hope that the problem can be contained.

The honey bee industry is vital to the plant, fruit and crop industries and we know that the beekeeper is a real specialist.

Our thoughts are with the bee industry; we really need you all and we love your finished product.

Good luck as you eradicate the mite.

ON a quick trip to our North West, it is obvious that the sight of a mob of well-bred Merino sheep is now a rarity and paddocks full of crossbred ewes have pushed the Merino out.

We know that a self-replacing Merino enterprise is quite viable even though input costs have risen sharply, but the operator who is proud of their work and ability is still being very well rewarded.

Lots of lower country is still waterlogged and tales of vast flocks of water birds that are nesting in overflowing inland lakes are a really positive sign.

I hope that no-one changes our climate too quickly as the last two-and-a-half years have been the best pastoral conditions of my 81 years on the planet.

A NUMBER of people have commented on the quality and docility of the two stud Poll Hereford bulls that stood to attention in an open area at the recent funeral of respected district grazier Lindsay Larnach.

The bulls were the property of Llandillo Stud at The Lagoon and studmasters Lee and Claire White supervised their attendance.

While many of our district properties now carry herds of black or speckled cattle, there are also some excellent Hereford and Poll Herefords to be seen and the soft, deep red Hereford is seen as a great asset to a rural business.

THE 2021 wool season finished on a disappointing note, with the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) closing down to 1430ac/kg in week 52 - which was 44ac/kg or 3 per cent lower in Australian dollar terms than the previous week.

There was an offering of 43,305 bales Australia-wide, with only 80pc being sold, and very high passed-in rates in Melbourne and Fremantle for the merino fleece types.

Sydney was a lot lower, with only 11pc passed in.

The 17.5-micron wools were most affected for the week, losing up to 100ac/kg; the 17.0 micron and finer were least affected, only shedding up to 30ac/kg.

Several factors have caused this drop in the market.

With more than 100,000 bales being offered in the first two weeks of the new season, buyers took the wait-and-see attitude on orders that they are not in a rush to finish.

A large industrial fire in one of the larger topmakers' warehouses in China, where they have lost substantial quantity of both greasy stock and processed wool, caused them to pull out of the market last week.

Shipping continues to be a serious issue for exporters! Their cycle time has now moved from the normal five-week turnaround to now nearly 11 weeks.

It's having a massive impact on their cashflow.

We have two sales left prior to a three-week recess, with week one seeing an offering of 52,000 bales.

THE farmer and his wife were in Rome and asked what the Pope drinks.

When told it was Creme de Menthe, they decided to drink the same - lots of it.

While recovering the next day, our farmer said: "If he drinks that, it's no wonder they have to carry him around."

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ANOTHER rural couple were on a skiing trip to the Snowies.

They failed to return for dinner and a search party was called.

At the first ravine, the search party called out: "We're looking for you from Red Cross."

At the second ravine: "We're looking for you from Red Cross."

At the last ravine: "We're looking for you from Red Cross."

The frugal little wife called back: "Please stop looking. I gave $10 to Red Cross back in Cooma."