‘World of wool’ photo gallery
Have you got any interesting photos that you’d like to share with other readers of Beyond the Bale? If so, please email the image and a brief description to the editor of Beyond the Bale Richard Smith at richard.smith@wool.com
International Back to Back Wool Challenge
The wool community isn’t generally a fan of ‘fast fashion’, but a unique and fantastic exception is made for the International Back to Back Wool Challenge. Held at the Dennis family’s Tarndwarncoort Homestead at Warncoort in Victoria on 29 March, three teams of wool crafters battled it out to create a full-size jumper directly from a sheep’s back to a human’s back in the quickest time possible. Each team includes a blade shearer, handspinners and knitters. The winning team, Koorooman Sapphire Ewes, took just 11 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds to complete the jumper, and retained their Australian Championship title. The Guinness World Record time is 4 hours, 45 minutes and 53 seconds held by a Dutch team. Next year will be the 30th Challenge with hopes of a record number of teams worldwide. The Challenge promotes wool worldwide and raises funds for cancer research.
sHedway founder Carol Mudford
Founder of sHedway, Carol Mudford, last month won the 2025 NSW AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award for her work in suicide prevention and mental health awareness within Australia’s shearing industry. Carol is a registered nurse, shearer and wool handler from Dubbo, NSW. In 2023, Carol founded sHedway, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting positive mental health in shearing sheds across the country. What began as a simple Facebook page (facebook.com/sHedwayLimited) has grown into a national initiative. Pictured is Carol giving a talk to participants at an AWI-funded wool harvesting workshop in Dubbo (left), and receiving her award from NSW Minister for Women, Jodie Harrison MP (right). At the awards, Carol wore a 100% Australian Merino wool dress from Smitten Merino.
Sundown
A beautiful sunset view of the old runway on Daryl Cooper’s farm north of Leeton in the Riverina of NSW. The photo was shot by his cousin from the city on their afternoon stroll.
Rise and shine
Marcus Gellert of Glenthompson, who also runs plenty of Merinos, sent in this photo of some composite ewes against the backdrop of a glorious sunrise on his south-west Victoria farm.
This article appeared in the Winter 2025 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine that was published in June 2025. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.
