Smith's world record shearing attempt today

Matt Smith will attempt the supreme sheep shearing record of 721 strongwool ewes in nine hours today in the UK.

It's all go in Cornwall today when New Zealand shearer Matt Smith tackles the supreme sheep shearing record of 721 strongwool ewes in nine hours.

He will be the first to attempt a world shearing record in the Northern Hemisphere.

Screenshot of the AgriCamera set up to live-stream Smith's attempt.

Matt will take on the challenge at Trefrank farm, St Clether where he lives with English wife Pippa. The attempt starts at 5am local time (4pm New Zealand time).

The nine hour record Matt is chasing was set in 2007 in the King Country by Southern Hawke's Bay shearer Rodney Sutton.

Smith will need to quickly get onto an average of under 45 seconds for the Romney and crossbred sheep, (caught, shorn and dispatched) if he is to take Sutton's crown.

However Matt Smith is no slouch and has had his own success when he set the (since-broken) eight-hour record of 578 in 2012 at Waitara Station.

Matt will be helped out today by his brother, World Champion Rowland Smith.

Rowland completed the CP Wool Shearing Sports New Zealand UK tour with a test match win over Wales at the Corwen Shears on Saturday.

Smith's will be the first of two World record attempts at Trefrank Farm as Irish shearer Ivan Scott is tackling the nine-hour lambs record on Friday.

The Irishman will be chasing Hawkes' Bay shearer Dion King's record of 866 set in 2007. Ivan Scott holds the eight-hour record of 744 which he set in 2012 near Taupo.

The World Sheep Shearing Records Society sets a minimum clip of 3kg per sheep.

This has been met in a sample shear of 10 sheep earlier today before an international judging panel, comprising Ian Buchanan (New Zealand), Mark Baldwin (Australia), and Arwyn Jones (Wales).

The event will be live-streamed and you can watch all the action in the link below:

https://agricamera.co.uk/world-record-live-stream/