Students take on Merino Wether Challenge

Murrumburrah High School students have returned from Dubbo where they have received good results from the AWI NSW School Merino Wether Challenge. Six students from year nine and 10 entered the challenge with six merino wethers where they received second place in best presented in wool, as well as second and third place in overall carcass value within their zone. Murrumburrah High School's Grace Armour said they were happy with those results considering how many teams they were up against. There were 17 teams in their zone, with all the teams having come from a similar weather climate, as weather has a lot of impact on lamb growth. "To get seconds and thirds is very, very competitive," she said. This is the fourth year Murrumburrah High School has competed in the AWI NSW School Merino Wether Challenge. There were 68 schools, and around 600 students who were split into four zones, working with 400 wethers. As well as being judged in the four zones, the wethers were vying for best overall across various categories. The wethers for the challenge were donated to competing schools by Warren based Egelabra Merino Stud. Ms Armour said they receive the lambs four months before the challenge and it is their job as a school to feed them, raise them and prepare them for the challenge. Looking forward, Murrumburrah High School are entering show season with their cattle team, and they will be taking prime lambs to compete in the Illabo Show in early October. Ms Armour said some of their students are also looking to break in several stud lambs this year in the hopes of starting a Hampshire stud. She said taking part in agricultural shows helps the students see different parts of the state, as well as experience important parts of agriculture. "The all come away learning amazing new bits of information from these shows," she said. "Dubbo is great - they spend two days going through workshops talking about meat [and] wool as an industry and looking at career opportunities."