A central Otago father and son have scored a rare double - winning both the fine wool and strong wool championship titles at the National Golden Fleece awards.
Allan and Simon Paterson's top fine wool fleece scored 99 out of a possible 100, and their Romney fleece scored 98 to win the strong-wool championship.
They run nearly 4000 merinos and 800 halfbred ewes on their 2000 hectare property at Gimmerburn, a farm that has been in their family since 1882.
Simon Paterson says to win both of the major woolgrowing titles in the same year is amazing.
He says they have always had a strong emphasis on wool quality.
Simon Paterson says it was their last attempt to win the strong wool title, because they've recently sold their romney stud to concentrate on fine wool.
The other major fleece titles went to John Sanders near Alexandra for champion merino ram fleece, Matakanui Station in Omakau for quarterbred and halfbred fleeces, Braemar Station in Tekapo for Perendale, Stuart Mangin of Methven for crossbred and James Pirie of Invercargill for champion Leicester fleece.
