Shearing: Record bid for Kiwi brothers Floyde and Levi Neil in West Australia

Taumarunui brothers and shearers Floyde (left) and Levi Neil in the Rockliffe woolshed south of Kojonup, ahead of the Saturday 5 am start of their world Merino ewes record bid. Photo / Supplied

A New Zealand shearer tackling a world record on some of the globe’s toughest tally sheep says conditions are ideal for the challenge in the southern reaches of West Australia tomorrow.

Both Floyde Neil, 30, and his brother Levi, 28 are together out to establish a two-stand merino ewes record for nine hours, but also in the sights is the solo record of 530 set by New Zealand shearer Stacey Te Huia near Duboo, NSW, eight years ago.

The brothers, from Taumarunui but based in Boyup Brook, West Australia, are also after sights is the solo record of 530 set by New Zealand shearer Stacey Te Huia near Duboo, NSW, eight years ago.

It will be the first attempt on a two-stand record for Merino ewes for nine hours, but there is a record of 924 for eight hours (four runs of two hours each) shorn in 2003 by brothers Cartwright and Michael Terry, also from New Zealand but based in Australia.

Saturday’s attempt will take place at “Rockliffe”, near Kojonup and about 280km south-southeast of Perth, starting at 5 am and ending at 5 pm.

There will be one run of two hours to the one-hour breakfast break, followed by four runs of 1hr 45min each, separated by breaks of 30 minutes for morning and afternoon smoko (tea–break) and an hour for lunch.

Much of this week has been spent preparing the sheep and the woolshed and practising on the sheep rejected from the larger flock from which the record-bid sheep were selected.

A wool weigh before convening official Alistair Emslie, from New Zealand, and World Sheep Shearing Records Society Australian judges Ralph Blue, Grant Borchardt and Mark Buscumb took place on Friday afternoon, with a sample of the sheep expected to satisfy the required average of at least 3.4kg of wool each.

The forecast for the area on Saturday is for fine weather and a maximum temperature of 26deg at Kojonup, about 20-30km from the venue.

Heading to the site today, Floyde Neil, commenting particularly on the solo record, said: “The weather is about as perfect as it could be for this time of the year. If everything goes well and to plan it’s looking very doable I think.”

Son of Roger Neil, who in 2007 helped set a four-stand strong wool lamb record for nine hours, Floyde had his name in the records books after a solo crossbred lambs record of 527 shorn on November 13 last year but held just 10 weeks before being regained in January by Aidan Copp, another New Zealander based in Australia, with a new mark of 605.

The 12th world sheep shearing record bid in the World Sheep Shearing Record Society’s 2022-2023 year, it will be first-time-up for Levi Neil.

To break the solo record, one of the shearers will need to average less than 61.02 seconds a sheep, or at least 59 an hour, caught, shorn and dispatched.

Shearing his record in February 2015, Te Huia increased the pace during the day, starting with 113 before breakfast (56.5 per hour), followed by 95-minute runs of 103, 105, 104 and 105.

There will be a significant team of helpers from near and far, including fellow New Zealand world shearing-record breakers Koen Black on Floyde Neil’s “door”, Digger Balme on time and Jack Fagan on drinks and West Australia representative Jess Harding as his woolhandler.

Levi Neil has Cartwright Terry on his door, and time will be monitored by Australia-based Hawke’s Bay shearer Lou Brown, who shore the eight-hour Merino ewes record of 497 at “Rockliffe” four years ago, with Kyle Gilmore on drinks and Lily Reriti his woohandler

The Merino (fine wool) record of 530 compares with the 9hrs ewes record on strong wool sheep more common to New Zealand and the UK of 731 set by New Zealand shearer and Cornwall farmer Matt Smith in England in July 2016.