Riverina Merino 2008

Riverina Merino is gearing up to introduce their winning-trifecta product to a nationwide audience with attendances at several 2006 events including Katanning, Bendigo, Hamilton and Dubbo. The group’s long-standing support of talented young people will also continue with a revamped Riverina Ambassador Award. The new award is called Merial’s Noel Reid Young Riverina Ambassador Award. Revised and expanded to include participants from many parts of the Merino industry, the Noel Reid award replaces the young sheep handlers ‘Sandy Robertson Young Riverina Ambassador Award’.

Merial’s Noel Reid Young Riverina Ambassador Award is open to any young person under the age of 29 whose life, work and ambition in the Merino industry link them to the greater Riverina area.

In 2006, the Noel Reid Award will be judged and presented as part of Riverina Merino’s attendance at the Hay Sheep Show on June 3. Other presentations to be awarded on the day will be the Elders Riverina Ram of the Year and Landmark’s Pennefather Perpetual Trophy for the Best Junior Judge.

President David Taylor is enthusiastic about the revised award and is confident young people will recognise the opportunities. “New techniques and expanded knowledge have greatly opened up avenues both for and within the Merino industry,” he says. ”And the new Noel Reid Award recognises that within this multi-faceted industry there are many professions which form the overall success of productivity and profitability in the ever-evolving Merino landscape.”

David says Merial’s Noel Reid Young Riverina Ambassador Award is open to young people who are involved in the Merino industry in the Riverina any capacity, including agriculture, management, production or agri-business ventures. Entrants could be in junior management, sheep breeding and handling, marketing, information technology, or research into wool or meat production. Recent graduates are welcome to apply as securing the Award, with its prize of a place on the Marcus Oldham Rural Leadership Program, is a good career move and reflects talent and long-term commitment on behalf of the winner.

Opening up the award also demonstrates Riverina Merino’s commitment to a whole-of-industry approach and the Riverina region. Noel Reid, who over the course of his long life was himself a committed if unofficial Riverina ambassador, was secretary and public officer for the Riverina Merino association from 1978 until retiring at age 85 in 1992. Noel lived a rewarding and fruitful life and was a long time Manager of Cooinbil Station. He received a Medal of the Order of Australia on January 26 2003 for service to the community of Narrandera and spent his last years at Haydays Retirement Village.

As well as pursuing new marketing initiatives and supporting young industry members, Riverina Merino’s group of more than 30 studs work hard to improve bloodlines through dedicated management and research programs.  In addition to a full on-property Spring Ram Sale Calendar beginning in September, the group offer a free newsletter and a comprehensive website displaying the latest in show and sale results.