101st Annual General Meeting

Written by CCWG Friday, November 1, 2019

CCWG 101 year logo

The 101st Annual General Meeting of the 

Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers Limited 

October 19th 2019

Old Orchard Inn & Spa, 153 Greenwich Rd South, Greenwich, Nova Scotia B4P 2R2

2018 Wool Certificate of Merit Winners

2019 Wool Industry News

101st Shareholder Annual Report

​Briggs & Little Woolen Mills Ltd at CCWG AGM in NS

Left to right: Mike Little, Leah Little, Eric Bjergso, Brenda Little, John Little
The Littles from Briggs & Little Woolen Mills Ltd in New Brunswick attended the 101st CCWG AGM in Greenwich, NS.
CCWG and Briggs & Little have been doing wool business together for over 70 years.  John Little gave an interesting presentation on the history of Briggs & Little Woolen Mills Ltd. 

 
1st Annual CCWG National Sheep Industry Award
National Sheep Industry Award presented to Brian Greaves
Warren L. Moore, CCWG Director Alberta South presents Brain W. Greaves with the 1st Annual CCWG National Sheep Industry Award in recognition of excellence in contributing to the sheep industry in Canada.
 
Shearers from Atlantic Canada recognized for their long-time service to the sheep industry were as follows: 

Sarah Nettleton, Valdis Peterson, Brian Trenholm

Jonathan Wort accepts the long-time shearing certificate on behalf of  Sarah Nettleton. 

 

 Amber Peterson accepts the long-time shearing certificate on behalf of her father Valdis Peterson. 

 

John Little of Briggs & Little Woolen Mills Ltd presents the long-time shearing certificate to Brian Trenholm.
 
Eric Bjergso, CCWG General Manager presents John Little, Briggs & Little Woolen Mills Ltd with a certificate of appreciation for being a valued partner in the Canadian wool industry.
John also received a limited-edition wool blanket from the MacAusland Woolen Mill in PEI.
 
Staff & Director Retirement Presentations
Donna Zeman – Executive Director, Carleton Place
Lee E. Sexton – CCWG Director, Saskatchewan North
Brian W. Greaves – CCWG Director, Manitoba

 

Left to right :
Lee E. Sexton, retiring CCWG Director Saskatchewan North; Nathan Pappas-Barabe, Wool Grader; Ward Harden, CCWG Director Saskatchewan South

Left to right :
Morgan A. Moore, CCWG Director Manitoba; Brian W. Greaves, retiring CCWG Director Manitoba; Nathan Pappas-Barabe, Wool Grader 

 

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Posted in Company News

World Sheep Shearing and Woolhandling Championship

Written by Allison Preston Tuesday, August 6, 2019

2019 has been a big year for France on the international stage. 

France was the host nation for the Championnat du Monde de Tonte de Moutons (World Sheep Shearing and Woolhandling Championship). Delegations of 34 countries converged at the village of Le Dorat from July 1st - 8th for a week of events occasionally referred to as the Olympics of shearing.

Canadian Cooperative Wool Growers Limited sponsored veteran worlds competitor Donald Metheral of Ontario and Pauline Bolay of Manitoba as Canada’s machine shearers, as well as a woolhandling team consisting of Amber Peterson of Prince Edward Island and Allison Preston of Alberta.

The week began on July 1st as teams arrived in France and made their way to Limoges a city near Le Dorat for a Speed shear and concert to welcome them. Tuesday, July 2nd, was a training day, with the teams traveling to local farms to practice on the local sheep breeds that would be used in the competition. While competitors were busy preparing: family, friends, and other supporters were offered a selection of farm tours to the area, as Le Dorat is part of the famous Limousine region of France. Wednesday evening a Producers market was held in the center of Le Dorat and many local producers were on hand to showcase their produce. Attendees could buy fresh local: meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables, and have them grilled on location to consume at the communal picnic tables. Thursday, July 4th, the competitions began! Amber and Allison competed in the Intermediate All Nations Shearing competition – a competition open to all competitors who registered and came on their own, not just country representatives – as well as the All Nations Senior Woolhandling competition. The All Nations also hosted their first Women’s Shearing event, which saw all three Canadian women compete and Pauline Bolay finish 5th overall.    In the evening the Opening Ceremonies were held and a Parade of Nations culminated with all the teams on stage with their flags, as speeches were given to a full stadium.

July 5th saw the Senior and Open events for All Nations, as well as the opening rounds for the Championship shearing. Pauline sheared well in the Senior All Nations and Don in the All Nation Opens. In the first round of Championships, Don and Pauline started strong and continued to perform well through all three qualifying rounds over the next couple days. Allison and Amber started out solidly and maintained consistent points in both qualifying rounds of woolhandling. While none of the Canadian competitors made the semi-finals on Sunday July 8th, they made Canada proud with Amber Peterson finishing individually at 35th and Allison Preston at 28th out of 43 competitors. Don Metheral claimed 29th spot individually in shearing and Pauline Bolay was the top North American shearer placing 25th.

World Sheep Shearing and Woolhandling Championship - Canadian style

 

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Posted in Shearing News

First Global Sheep Conference in Saskatoon, SK

Written by CCWG Wednesday, July 24, 2019

CSF logo

The Canadian Sheep Federation was honoured to host a select group of senior industry executives.

The first Global Sheep Conference took place July 18th through 20th in Saskatoon. 

The goal of this inaugural event was to share common experiences, challenges and opportunities the sheep industry faces, look for areas for future global collaboration and bring the Canadian sheep industry into the spotlight. The meeting far exceeded those expectations!

2019 Global Sheep Conference
Among those in attendance were Rob Williams, International Business Manager with Meat and Livestock Australia; Andrew Morrison, Chairman, and Jason Frost, North American Trade and Relationship Manager from beef + lamb New Zealand;  Pat and Ann Vorster, Principles at Morriston Merino Stud (South Africa); Phil Stocker, Senior Executive of the National Sheep Association (UK); Dale Thorne, Chairman of the American Lamb Board; Roberto Cardellino, Principal at Delta Animal Production Consultants and co-author of the IWTO’s wool production reports, as well as a number of invited Canadian industry executives.
 
Delegates spent Friday sharing experiences and identified a number of areas for future collaboration including inspiring global consumption and supply, elevating the profile of sheep farmers and sheep products around the world, and inspiring the future generation of strong leaders, among others. Videos of the day’s presentations will be available shortly through various CSF platforms.  On Saturday, the delegation attended the 2019 All Canada Classic and Grasslands Exhibition in Humboldt, meeting with producers and getting a look at what our industry has to offer. They were greeted with the warmth and professionalism needed to take the Canadian industry to the global stage.   
 
 
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Posted in Sheep Associations News

Sheep Shearing Challenge crowns first female champion

Written by CCWG Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Calgary Stampede North American Sheep Shearing Challenge crowns first female champion

July 12, 2019

Calgary – There’s a first time for everything.

 
For the first time in Calgary Stampede history, a woman won the Calgary Stampede North American Sheep Shearing Championship in the Open Professional Class.
Manitoba’s Pauline Bolay finished with a score of 30.35 in a tight three-way race for first place during Friday’s event at the Northern Lights Arena. She edged out fellow competitors Josh Bruton, who came in second, and Timothy Wright, who came in third.
“It’s a great feeling,” she said after the big win, which earned her $2,500, a championship belt buckle and a commemorative bell. “I definitely had a plan, I stuck to it and it worked.”
Bolay has been shearing for 10 years and recently started doing more competitions, including representing Canada at the Sheep Shearing World Championship in France last week. 
“Shearing isn’t in the family but sheep farming is,” she said of how she got started. “When shears came out on the farm, I wanted to do it so I made sure I had the opportunity to do it.”
The competition is all about putting two shearers side-by-side to see who can shear a sheep the fastest, but more importantly, with the most skill. It’s about who is both quick and clean with the shears.
This is a timed and judged event, based on the international shearing rules and emphasizing the Calgary Stampede's commitment to safe animal handling practices.
On each of their four sheep, shearers were scored on how many passes they completed, the quality of the cut, leaving wool on the sheep, and — of course, time. In shearing, the lower the score, the better.
It’s special moment in history for the event, said vice-chair of the Sheep Committee, Pam Barker.
“We’ve had some really good women shearing over the years, and Pauline has been here a couple times in the past. This is her first victory and especially being in the year of the women of the West here at Calgary Stampede, it’s pretty special.”
In the Intermediate Class, Kayne Drew from Australia took the top honours and he couldn’t be more thrilled.
“I came out against some good competition,” he said. “I tried to make the most of the final and let it all hang out and I’m glad to come away with the win and I’m also glad about the guys I’ve met here. This is as much their victory as it is mine.”
Drew is also a bull rider and says sheep shearing is just something he does as a hobby but he loves being able to have the “best of both worlds.”
“Bull riding is an adrenaline rush and I get just as much of a kick from doing this competition, too.  Shearing is great and I love it; I wouldn’t come across the world and do it if I didn’t think I could actually make a living off of it.”
For the full results from the North American Sheep Shearing Challenge, visit ag.calgarystampede.com/results.
 
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