Check out the competition for fastest Sheep Shearer during Black Hills Stock Show

RAPID CITY, S.D.–With Monday being All American Sheep Day the National Sheep Shearing Championships took place alongside the National Sheep Dog Trials. Sheep shearers from across the country gathered at the Kjerstad Event Center to see who could trim a sheep the fastest. Beginners, intermediates and professionals competed for the fastest shearer title. In two categories; machine shearing and blade shearing.

National Sheep Shearing Championships at Black Hills Stock Show:

And while the need for speed is evident much more goes into winning. Lisa Surber Executive Secretary of the South Dakota Sheep Growers Association says, “Not only is it judged for speed, but it’s also judged for the quality of the job that they do. So they’re judged while they’re shearing, but also their sheep are judged on the way the sheep looks when they’re shorn.”

Points earned from this competition and others across the country go towards qualifying for the World Sheep Shearing Championships in Scotland this June.