The future of women in shearing is looking positive after they dominated the lower grades at the Northern A and P Show.
Female competitors came first and second in the Junior Final Shearing Championships in Rangiora on Saturday.
- She Shears: Women in shearing movie opens across the country
- Jills Angus Burney tackles sheep shearing challenges
Adele Lemercier, of France, claimed victory by almost five points over runner-up Kelly Poehls, of Makara.
She was the fourth shearer from France to win in New Zealand in the past four seasons.
Third was English shearer Henry Mayo, who has already won three finals in New Zealand, including an A-grade show New Zealand Spring Shears title at Waimate earlier this month.
The Intermediate final was won by Oxford shearer Eve Peddie, her second win in the grade, while women were also represented in the Senior final by former Golden Shears Novice shearing and Junior woolhandling champion Sarah Higgins, from Marlborough.
Shearing Sports records show 21 women have won shearing finals in New Zealand in the past four seasons, from Senior to Novice.
In the same time-period 23 shearers, from nine countries, have won shearing finals in New Zealand.
Geraldine blades shearer Allan Oldfield made another strong claim for a World Championships by beating favourite Tony Dobbs, of Fairlie, in the blades shearing final.
Oldfield beat favourite Tony Dobbs, of Fairlie, by just 0.9pts, relying on a 48 seconds time advantage after shearing the four sheep in o in the Open blades final at the Northern A and P Show in Rangiora.
The pair are entrenched at the top of the points table in a series set to end at the New Zealand Agricultural Show in Christchurch next month with the top two claiming the blades shearing places in the Shearing Sports New Zealand team for the World shearing and woolhandling championships in Le Dorat, Central France, next July.
The Senior final provided a family quinella for Southland brothers Jade and Brandon Maguire Ratima. Jade won by 0.66pts from Brandon, the 2018 Golden Shears Intermediate champion.
Newshub