STUDENTS from as far away as Melbourne and Ballarat joined about 170 from the Riverina and North East Victoria at Wednesday’s Holbrook Sheep and Wool Fair.
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The popular schools' day, with workshops for secondary students to learn about the sheep and wool industry, opened the three-day event at Holbrook Sporting Centre.
The mainly years 8 and 9 agriculture students spent time learning about lamb survival, fleece judging, preparing sheep for show, handling sheep in the judging ring and working dog displays and learning about traits that make a good working dog.
"We had about 170 kids and they were put into groups based on their experience,” fair secretary Rita Bowler said. “They rotated through three workshops, of about 40 minutes each, during the morning.”
Mrs Bowler said students spent the afternoon competing against each other with their school-bred flocks.
On Thursday, the schools and individual breeders will compete in the open sections for fleece and sheep competitions, with the finale interbreed competition being held on Friday morning.
Throughout the event, students have the opportunity to participate in a number of judging competitions for fleeces, Merino sheep and meat sheep and being judged on their sheep handling skills.