The new competition shearing and woolhandling season starts with the New Zealand Merino Championships this week in Alexandra, Central Otago.
Attached is a publishable calendar of the events throughout the season which runs through to Easter 2014, with 60 competitions throughout the country, from the Farn North to Winton and Lumsden in the South. The major highlights in the South Island are the Otago championships in Balclutha and the Southern Shears in Gore in February, and in the North Island the Golden Shears in Masterton and New Zealand Championships in Te Kuiti in March.
The season will also feature a tour by the Welsh shearing team, and throughout the season, machine and blade shearers and woolhandlers will be striving for selection in the New Zealand team for the World Championships in Ireland in May.
