To be eligible, interested students must be active in the Merino industry.
The wool industry’s next generation is set to take up the challenge with entries now open for the 2019 National Merino Challenge.
The National Merino challenge provides young people with an understanding of the career opportunities within the sheep and wool industries and delivers basic skills of appraisal using both traditional and modern methods.
AWI’s General Manager of Operations Nigel Gosse said the National Merino Challenge had established itself as a leading education program for students interested in a career in the wool industry.
“During the two-day event, students are introduced to and then assessed on their skills across a wide range of areas such as feed budgeting, condition scoring, breeding objectives, wool harvesting together with the commercial assessment and classing of animals and fleeces,” Mr Gosse said.
“The program has a strong history of success and continues to grow in popularity each year, delivering late-secondary and tertiary students the knowledge and skills involved with producing Merino wool.
“While AWI has developed valuable educational resources and projects for primary and secondary students, transferring best practice breeding skills and knowledge to future Merino industry participants is an important part of the future of our industry.”
To be eligible, interested students must be active in the Merino industry with skills and experience in one or more of the following:
- Commercial Merino producer
- TAFE teacher
- Secondary teacher
- University lecturer
- Wool exporter, broker or agent
- Wool/sheep extension skills
- Sheep classer
- Merino ram breeder nominated through a state or national stud association.
Entries for the 2019 National Merino Challenge are open now and close on Monday May 6, 2019.