Award-winning wool classer Sharon Lawton's Glenbrook Station entry on display at the 2024 Wānaka A&P Show.
Award-winning wool classer Sharon Lawton's Glenbrook Station entry on display at the 2024 Wānaka A&P Show.
An award-winning wool classer from the Waikato region has claimed a near-perfect score for her flock fleece submission in this year’s fine wool fleece competition at the Wānaka A&P Show.
Te Kauwhata-based wool classer Sharon Lawton received 98.5 points – out of 100 –for her flock fleece entry in the New Zealand Fine Wool Supreme Fleece competition, with the winning fleece on display at the 2024 Wānaka A&P Show, held at the weekend.
Lawton said she was surprised and honoured by the achievement.
“To receive this acknowledgment and class with such a high score is amazing,” she said.
“While I assessed the fleece entry, I am just one part in the process, and this win really reflects a full team effort.
“The farmers, growers, shearers, wool handlers each play crucial roles and this premium fleece highlights their diligent and consistent work, year-round.”
In addition, Lawton received the Martin Paterson Trophy, which has been donated by the current Wānaka A&P Show president.
The trophy acknowledges the wool classer who selects the Highest Scoring Fleece in Flock Classes entry.
Upper Clutha A&P Society Show president Martin Paterson said the near-perfect fleece highlighted the excellent calibre of fleece entries in the recent New Zealand Fine Wool Supreme Fleece competition.
“We had a record-breaking number of entries and entrants this year,” he said.
Paterson said 236 fine wool fleeces were submitted and of those, over 100 were flock fleeces.
Wānaka A&P Show president Martin Paterson (left) and New Zealand Fine Wool Supreme Fleece flock fleece judge Craig Smith stand with one of the 236 fleeces submitted in the record-breaking competition.
“From my discussions with the judges, it was a tough decision to select the winner.
“However, Lawton’s 98.5-point fleece from Glenbrook Station claimed perfect scores in five of the seven judging categories.
“It is a privilege to honour her achievement and give her the Martin Paterson Trophy.”
Lawton began her wool career in 1982 as a teenager working alongside her father in local shearing sheds.
She has established a strong career in the industry, with more than 30 years of shearing and wool classing experience.
Throughout the peak wool classing seasons between August to October, Lawton visits various South Island-based clients including Glenbrook Station – the 3700ha sheep and beef farm south of Twizel, attributed to the winning fleece entry – and classes ewe and hogget fleeces.
