No.8 Wire: Class act earns Moke wool award

Trish Moke says she thrives on competitions and hopes to represent NZ within five years. Photo / Supplied

Waipawa mother Trish Moke may have been in the wool industry 22 years, but finds there's still plenty of time to achieve a few goals after receiving a major industry award last week.

She was presented with the North Island wool classer merit award at the New Zealand Wool Classers Association annual meeting in Christchurch.

Working for Flaxmere-based contractor Colin Watson Paul's Shearing NZ, Moke received the award for classing and preparation of the wool clip from Dennis Bell's Roundaway in Central Hawke's Bay.

Ms Moke, who is also employed by Primary ITO training and qualifying woolhandlers, says that the presentation may seem like one of the ultimate accolades but she now has other goals, particularly in the competition arena.

She was among the top 12 woolhandlers in the 2012-2013 season, including coming 4th in the North Island circuit, and was in the top 10 in New Zealand's world championships qualifying series the next season.

"I thrive on competitions," she said.

"The end-goal is to make the Shearing Sports New Zealand (SSNZ) team within five years."

SSNZ teams contest an annual home-and-away test series against Australia,and also the World Championships every two to three years, the next being in Christchurch in 2017.

Kiwis in Aussie

Porangahau brothers Jovan and Jerome Taiki have wowed a big fan club at a Speedshear in Longreach, Queensland.

They were barely separable through the rounds of the competition last weekend, and an extra round had to be held to sort it out before Jovan Taiki got the nod, with shearer Turei Hokianga - another CHB-sounding name - in third place.

Jovan Taiki, 27, moved to Australia to shear in 2008, and hasn't been "home" to CHB since 2011.

He's usually based in Longreach, but does a lot of work in Mt Gambier, South Australia, from September to Christmas.

Competitions have been severely disrupted by drought in Queensland, but he has in the past twice made the final of the local show, one of the biggest in the region.

Farmer well-being

A new initiative to promote well-being for all farmers and growers across New Zealand has been launched in a joint initiative between the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand and rural insurer FMG.

Farmstrong will help shift the focus of mental health from depression and illness to one of well-being.

FMG chief executive Chris Black says it will help to highlight that farmers are the most important asset on the farm and that by taking proactive steps to look after their mental and physical heath, they're better prepared to run their business and support their family, staff and community.