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APRIL, 2021
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MISS CHILLY PEPPER IS RUNNING HOT THREE TITLES: (Left to right) Trevor Bellchambers, Rick Brown of Sarowan Park Arabians and owner of Miss Chilly Pepper with Sally Harvey of Sa’Vey Arabians celebrate the filly’s success at the recent 2021 Australian Arabian National Championships held at Boneo Park over the March long weekend. Turn to page 4 for the whole story.
Shearer shortage hits home FARMERS across Australia have been struggling this year to find enough shearers and it’s no different for Nagambie farmer Charles Heal. Like many labour intensive industries there are fewer younger people learning the trade with most farms relying on contract shearing teams from interstate and overseas to get their wool clip off. The Heal family’s 1400 hectare property west of Nagambie stretches
BY CLEMENCE CARAYOL ccarayol@ nemedia.com.au
as far as the eye can see, some sheds are modern and others are over 50 years old and in dilapidated states with basic workplace safety standards non-existent. “This job is gruelling, it’s one of the toughest job you could ever imagine, we as wool growers must make the workplace conditions
as best we can, otherwise we will be left without a labour force, this will result in our industry ceasing to exist “ Mr Heal said. “To put into perspective, a shearer will burn the same amount of calories as an AFL player does on game day, every single day. Little things, like providing meals, cooler working conditions with adequate ventilation makes a big difference, Mr Heal also said that modern sheep have gotten
much bigger over the last few decades. “Growers have pushed for larger framed animals that cut loads of wool and are often suited to a wetter southern climate, this has made the wetter than average 2020 to 2021 season even more challenging, with shearers flat out refusing to shear some types of animals. “You get paid per sheep, and if you can shear 150 a day at one shed and only 120 at another,
which would you choose?” The daily life of a shearer is still quite the same as the one Tom Roberts painted on his “Shearing the rams” canvas more than a century ago. “The industry has tried to mechanise the profession but it is one of these profession where human know-how is indispensable, a robot cannot entirely replace a human,” Mr Heal said. ■ Continued page 2
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