Jenny and Michael Sweeney with their grand champion fleece at Bendigo.

AUSTRALIAN National Fleece Competition winners, Walcha growers Michael and Jenny Sweeney, nearly didn’t enter this year’s competition, but a four year-old wether fleece has given them the coveted Grand Champion sash.

This year the couple also won the Grand Champion Merino Fleece at the Walcha Show and Grand Champion Merino Fleece in the District Exhibits Competition at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

“To win Grand Champion Fleece at Bendigo is the icing on the cake,” Michael said.

“It’s top of the tree, fantastic – it just can’t get better,” Jenny added.

Michael said he has been breeding Merinos and showing wool for 35 years, and a win at Bendigo was a lifetime goal and something he had always dreamed about.

Michael had previously won grand champion fleece at Bendigo in 2008 with a superfine fleece, but he attributed recent success in fleece competitions to a change about ten years ago to Airlie Merino rams to grow more wool. This lifted his wethers’ average cut of 5 kilograms to 7.1kgs.

His first Airlie ram cut 13kgs and the flock’s wool changed from a true-to-count 64s type to a bolder crimping 66s type with more lustre on a bigger sheep.

“I put more skin on the sheep and when they’ve got more skin and more surface area they grow more wool.

“Commercially we want to grow 17.5-18 micron wool and cut as much as we can.”

Good season and breeding gives couple an ‘Australian Open’ win

Michael said the season had also been good for wool growing.

“Everything has got to line up.”

The couple have been running Merino wethers in recent years and transitioning to cattle.

Michael said the recent higher wool prices weren’t enough to keep him in wool at the moment. The 2019-20 drought “busted” him and they set a five year plan to transition out of wool production.

“I’m never going to say I won’t be back into them (sheep) because I love wool, but we’ll have a little break, look around and see what comes of it.

“I’ve done an Ash Barty – I’ve won the Australian Open — and now I’m going to retire (from wool).”

He believed his father Neal, who passed about 10 years ago, and was also a wool man, would be proud of his Bendigo win.

At its peak, the Sweeneys ran 4500-5000 Merino ewes and wethers, but Michael said he only kept his last 800 wethers “because I fell in love with them because of what they cut me last year” and wethers grow their best wool as 3-4 year-olds.

Winning fleece was a last-minute decision

Jenny said Michael picks his show fleeces as they come across the table, and his winning Bendigo fleece also won at the local Walcha show this year and Sydney, but he had doubts about Bendigo “because at Bendigo you are playing with the big boys.”

His son Connor urged him to enter Bendigo during his last shearing, but he only changed his mind after passing up good potential show fleeces early in the shearing.

“He only started picking fleeces out of the last 200 wethers they were shearing,” Jenny said.

And Michael said there were better fleeces in the earlier mobs.

“Last year at the district fleece show in Sydney, which is a pretty handy wool show in itself, in my opinion the best wool show in New South Wales, I had wool, not as good as these, but they were pretty good.

“This fleece should have won down there and it didn’t.”

So a very competitive Michael Sweeney dug his toes in and had decided not to enter any further fleece competitions.

“And then this fleece came across the table and I said I’ve got to put that one in – it was too good.”

Jenny said Michael’s star qualities include his dedication, passion and love for wool along with determination and his “compass point of where he wants to be and what it takes to get there.”

“So the passion and the love is what I see is the biggest success of these fleeces – I’m very proud of him.

“Absolutely proud of him, because I’ve seen his ‘overnight success’ be 35 years in the making and 10 years of decision making to get to this point.”

The Sweeney’s prize winning fine-medium fleece at Bendigo had a mean fibre diameter of 18.8 micron and secured a score of 97.50 out of a possible 100 points.

Competition marks 25 year milestone

This year’s event marks a quarter century of the Australian Fleece Competition, with 483 fleeces from 171 exhibitors rounding out the hotly contested 2026 field.

Recognising the high calibre of competition, judge Tim Callan, of Segard Masurel, praised the consistent work of exhibitors.

“All the fleeces were of a high standard, so it was quite a challenge to find the best in each class,” he said.

“As a wool buyer, trader, and processor, this year’s competition left me feeling like the proverbial ‘kid in a candy shop,’” Mr Callan said.

“It is such a great feeling to see the Australian wool industry in such good hands.

“So many growers and studs are producing sheep and wool of such quality. Congratulations to all involved.”

Conrayn of Conrayn Merino Stud, claimed the Reserve Grand Champion Fleece honours, with an Extra Superfine fleece, scoring 94.75 and measuring 16.9 micron.

This year’s competition featured representation from all Australian wool-growing states, with a diverse range of fleeces, measuring 12.7 micron right through to 51.1 micron.

Returning judge, David Hart, of Nutrien Ag Solutions, praised the high bar that continues to be set.

“This being my second year of judging, I knew beforehand the quality of the field, and I was not let down.

If anything, I believe this year’s competition exceeded the impressive standard set just last year,” Mr Hart said.

“This year, I’ve been amazed by the breathtaking quality of the super and ultrafine wools.

“In fact, what we’ve seen across the board is wool at its magnificent best – soft, white and bright, stylish, and full of character,” he said.

“Congratulations again to all the exhibitors, you have demonstrated again that Australia grows the best wool in the world.”

Competition convenor and Nutrien Ag Solutions wool account manager, Candice Cordy, praised the competitive spirit on display.

“Each year the Australian Fleece Competition goes from strength to strength, and we’ve seen some incredible entrants in 2026,” Ms Cordy said.

“What this continues to demonstrate is the remarkable diversity in Australia’s wool industry.

“This is the largest fully-measured fleece competition in the world, and we’re immensely proud of our growers and their ongoing commitment to the sector.”

All fleeces were weighed and sampled under AWTA’s standard procedures, including objective measurement of length and strength. The competition is a collaboration between the Australian Sheep Breeders Association, the Australian Wool Testing Authority, and Nutrien Ag Solutions, and runs alongside the Australian Sheep and Wool Show, held in Bendigo from 17–19 July 2026.

Each year, more than half of our competition fleeces are donated by exhibitors. Proceeds are then donated to a nominated charity. Since its inception, the competition has raised more than $244,000 for important philanthropic causes across Australia. This year’s nominated charity is the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.