Sheep shearing is baaaack at Moreton Show 2024
You better baaalieve it, the sheep shearing competitions will be back at Moreton Show on Saturday 7th September!
Moreton Show hosted their first ever shearing competition in 2023 and it was a huge success. Crowds flocked to the Shearing Marquee, enjoying the farmtastic atmosphere and the high standard of competition – accompanied by the phenomenal commentary from living legend Huw Condron.
Moreton Show promises a great spectacle again this year and hopes to attract even more competitors to the stands as it is one of the last competitions of the show season. There is also a new class in the schedule: the ‘over 40’s’ class, as well as the usual classes; Junior, Intermediate, Senior and Open. The over 40’s class should provide great entertainment and will hopefully attract the older generation of shearers to prove they are not ‘past it’ quite yet! Please note, entries for the over 40’s class will be taken on the day only – no advance entries.
Following the success of last year, Moreton Show aims to continue to promote and encourage an interest in wool, plus the art and skill of sheep shearing, as well as help to educate people as to why sheep shearing is so important.
Highly regarded shearer, Stuart Connor, competed at Moreton Show 2023 and commented: “It was an awesome day, we had a great support and fantastic sheep, they have been some of the best sheep we’ve had on the whole of the show circuit this year.”
Sheep shearing not only provides great entertainment in a competition setting but it is also a necessary task to keep the sheep happy and clean. If sheep were not sheared, they get extremely hot in the summer months, and their fleece continues to grow, leading to risks of them getting stuck on their backs – in the agricultural industry this is referred to as getting ‘cast’.
Ben Cottrell, Chairman of the Shearing Committee, says: “It’s such an honour to be holding a shearing competition at Moreton Show again this year. We took a gamble last year, but it completely paid off thanks to everyone who supported us! We enjoyed a great number of entries and it proved to be a hit with the spectators too! This year we have some cracking lambs for the competitors to shear and I look forward to seeing you all there on Saturday 7th September!”
Moreton Show would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the Shearing Competition sponsors for their continued support: Lister Shearing Equipment Ltd for providing the shearing equipment to be used on Show Day, Mr Stuart Mace, Moreton Show Society Chairman for sponsoring the Junior competition, Laurence Pierce Wool Merchants for sponsoring the Intermediate competition, Rugby Farmers Mart for sponsoring the Senior competition, British Bespoke Auctions for sponsoring the Open competition and the prize for The Shearer with the Best Pen of Lambs, and McCartneys Worcester for sponsoring the new over 40’s class. A big thank you also goes to Gordon Gilder Livestock Transport for hauling the lambs to and from the show safely.
The shearing competition entries are open now and will close on Monday 12th August 2024, all entries before the closing day will gain free access to the show. Late entries may be taken on Show Day, however this will be subject to lamb numbers.
If you’d like to be part of the volunteering team at Moreton Show, please do give the Office a call on 01608 651 908.
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Moreton-in-Marsh Agricultural and Horse Show Society is a Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered in England No. 2397134; Registered Charity No. 900122.
Registered Office: Moreton Show Office, 5 Wychwood Court, London Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Glos, GL56 0JQ