DONEGAL MAN IVAN Scott has beaten the world record for the fastest time to shear a sheep.

Source: RTÉ

Scott (33) sheared a sheep in 37.9 seconds live on RTÉ’s Big Week on the Farm, beating the previous record of 39.31 seconds which was set in Australia in 2010.

Scott, from Kilmacrennan near Letterkenny in Co Donegal, has won the All-Ireland Sheep Shearing Champion title eight times. He previously took the record for the number of sheep sheared in eight hours in New Zealand in 2012, shearing 744 lambs.

His effort was overseen by Guinness World Record adjudicator Glenn Pollard and chair of the Irish Sheep Shearing Association Tom Dunne, whose job it was to assess whether the sheep was sheared to World Shearing Committee standards and that there were no nicks or cuts to the sheep in the attempt.

To be a valid world record attempt, the sheep must be at least 18-months-old and three kilograms of wool have to be sheared. Ivan sheared 3.92 kilos of wool in the 37.9 seconds.

Pollard said it was “a privilege to watch” Scott in action, adding:

He is clearly a very skilled practitioner and well worth his brand new Guinness World Records title.

Big Week on the Farm continues tomorrow at 7pm on RTÉ One.