Meet our fastest and most acclaimed shearers
Meet 25 of the best Australian shearers who hold records and accolades – including one who shares he can earn up to $10,000 a week doing what he loves.
Meet the shearers who dominate the industry and see how they break physical and mental barriers to become outstanding athletes.
Shearers at the top of their game can earn accolades through the World Sheep Shearing Records Society Incorporated, a governing body for measuring the best in the industry.
Aidan Copp, 37, of Gunning in NSW, has broken multiple world records and approaches shearing like an athlete and a businessman.
He regularly shears for eight hours a day. Then backs that up with a 10km to 20km run and is often in the gym or the swimming pool. It is not just the lure of world records that encourages him to be fit and fast. He said there was good money to be had for shearers.
“I can make up to $2000 a day … or $10,000 a week,” he said.
“There are incentives for being really good at what you do.”
“If we are getting paid $5 for shearing a sheep and can shear 400 a day, that is good income.” Mr Copp said there was once a time when shearers would finish in the shed and then hit the pub. Now, they are swapping beers for gym workouts.
AIDAN COPP
Former Kiwi shearer Aidan Copp stamped his dominance in Australia when he claimed the world record in the Riverina for shearing 524 first-cross lambs in eight hours at Gnadbro Station in 2019. He broke the former record, which had stood for 14 years, by shearing five additional lambs. Dwayne Black had set the previous record and was at Gnadbro to watch the result be bettered. In 2023 the 37-year-old shearer went to Lovely Banks at Melton Mowbray in Tasmania to shear 605 lambs in eight hours. That equates to a rate of one lamb in 48 seconds. The previous record for shearing lambs in eight hours was 527. Aidan also holds a record for shearing Merino crossbred lambs with a tally of 524 in eight hours. Aidan holds the current world eight-hour five-stand strong wool lamb record with a team of five shearers.
CHARLIE DUNN
For Charlie Dunn of Culcairn in Southern NSW age is no barrier. The 12-year-old recently achieved a personal best by shearing 130 sheep in a day. He achieved the feat in March this year but he is certainly not a newcomer to shearing despite his young age. Charlie follows in the footsteps of his father Clint Dunn who is an accomplished shearer.
BRIAN MORRISON
Brian Morrison from Longwood in Victoria was inducted into the Australian Shearers Hall of Fame in 2019. During his career he won the Australian Open Shearing title twice and he claimed a world record for shearing 410 Merino weathers at the RSL Hall in Euroa.
RON NIVEN
Ron Niven from Manjimup in Western Australia is acclaimed as a blade shearing specialist. He is also the first Western Australian to be inducted into the Australian Shearers Hall of Fame.
JEANINE KIMM
Earlier in 2024 Jeanine Kimm, 31, set the first women’s record for shearing 358 Merino ewes in eight hours equating to 80.8 seconds per sheep. She set the record at Dalkeith, Cassilis in NSW. The record was officially set on May 4 2024.
DWAYNE BLACK
Dwayne Black holds claim over the first nine-hour Merino lamb shearing record set on October 3 2004 after shearing 664 sheep at Yerramullah Park at Badgingarra in Western Australia. Along with Tony Stansbury he also holds the two-stand eight-hour Merino lamb record with a tally of 1079. Back in 2007 in China Dwayne set a record for shearing a single Merino lamb in 53.88 seconds. The lamb had a fleece weight of 1.65kg.
RICHARD DUGGAN
Richard Duggan was known among fellow shearers as “The King” and he was regularly shearing 100 sheep a day at 16. By the time he was 18 he could shear 200-sheep a day. He even held claim of shearing 200 sheep on his 75th birthday. He won 108 titles as a shearer including 17 state titles, three national team titles and he also represented Australia in the UK, US and New Zealand on 10 occasions. He was inducted into the Australian Shearers Hall of Fame in 2015.
FLOYDE NEIL
Floyd Neil of Boyup in Western Australia set a blistering pace with a new world record in 2022 after achieving a tally of 527 cross bred lambs in eight hours. This was three more lambs than the incredible feat of Aidan Copp at Gnadbro Station in the Riverina in 2019.
SACHA BOND
In December 2023, Kiwi shearer Sacha Bond, who now resides in Australia, set a record for shearing 720 lambs in nine hours. In the breakdown her record equated to one lamb being shorn every 45 seconds. The record was set at the Centre Hill Station in New Zealand.
AARON HEMLEY
Aaron Hemley undertook a marathon effort in 2010 to shear 904 sheep at Callawadda in the Wimmera of Victoria. The effort took 48 hours. During the feat he raised $100,000 for the Stawell Hospital Oncology unit. Mr Hemley was supported by a team of wool classers, a masseuse, a doctor, physio and dietitian. Friends and family also provided support.
CATHY WENDELBORN
Cathy Wendelborn of Quilpie, Queensland is considered a trailblazer of female shearing success in Australia. She is an Australian Shearers Hall of Fame inductee and was the first woman to achieve the feat in 2022. Back in 1996 she achieved a tally of shearing 286 sheep and then she added another 52 to crutch. The former Queen Elizabeth II also watched Ms Wendeborn shear a sheep at Geelong in 1988.
ROBERT ‘JACKIE’ HOWE
Back in 1892 Robert “Jackie” Howe set a tally of 321 sheep in seven hours and 40 minutes using blade shears. The feat was achieved at Alice Downs, Blackall, Queensland. Despite the amount of time that has past he record is believed to still stand and the efforts of Mr Howe were recognised by the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame.
DAVID ‘DAFFY’ RYAN
Back in 1978, and using what was known as “narrow combs” David “Daffy” Ryan set a record of shearing 466 Merino lambs at Spring Valley in Victoria. He followed up the feat 12 months later by shearing 501 Merino lambs back at the same location. It took him seven hours and 48 minutes. Mr Ryan was inducted into the Australian Shearers Hall of fame in 2019 and started his career in the industry as a 16-year old.
HILTON BARRETT
Hilton Barrett, who is a shearing contractor, set his sights on chasing record early on in his career. In 1999 he earned the world record for shearing 351 Merino ewes in eight hours. And then later in 2001 he broke the record again with a tally of 411.
BRETT CAVANOUGH
Shearer Brett Cavanough set a blistering pace back in 1997 when he earned a tally of 427 Merino cross bred lambs in a feat at Widgiewaa Station in NSW.
GENE MILLS
Gene Mills from Crookwell in NSW earned an array of accolades during his career as a shearer. He was a winner of the Canberra Shearer of the Year on five times and won the Australian Strong Wool title twice. He won the Longreach Diamond Shears and also competed in New Zealand on several occasions. He also travelled to the US to shear and won at the National Stock Show in Denver. He was inducted into the Australian Shearers Hall of Fame in 2022.
STEVEN MUDFORD
Steven Mudford of Gilgandra in NSW holds the record for shearing 373 Merino weathers in eight hours on September 8 2018 at Parkdale SRS Merino Stud, Dubbo. The record bettered an earlier one of 356 which was set by David Grant and stood for 11 years.
RODNEY BUICK
Rodney Buick holds a unique and impressive record for shearing sheep with a blindfold on. He was able to shear 102 sheep in 5 hours, 33 minutes and 32 seconds at the Murray Bridge Show in South Australia in October 1988.
DAVID LAWRENCE
David Lawrence of Southern Brook, Western Australia represented Australia in Trans-Tasman competitions against New Zealand shearers on six occasions. He began shearing in 1975 with the encouragement of his brothers. He was known in shearing sheds throughout Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, and also earned respect for his accomplishments in New Zealand. He was inducted into the Australian Shearers Hall of Fame in 2019.
BOB WHITE
Conargo, NSW shearer Bob White teamed up with Steve Mudford and Beau Guelfi to shear a total of 1289 Merino ewes in eight hours at Parkdale, Dubbo, NSW in April 2014. Bob had a personal tally of 432, Beau, 461, and Steve, 396.
TYRON COCHRANE
Tyron Cochrane from Goodooga in NSW won the Golden Shears junior final at Masterton in New Zealand in 2023. Mr Cochrane is one of only 11 people, not from New Zealand, to win a title in that country for more than six decades of competitions.
STACEY TE HUIA
Stacey Te Huia from Bathurst, NSW has set several benchmarks as an individual and also in teams. The former New Zealander holds claim for shearing 530 Merino ewes in nine hours at Dubbo, NSW in 2015. He broke the former record that was set a decade earlier by Dwayne Black who had a total of 513. Stacey also holds a record strong wool with a tally of 603. He has also teamed up with fellow shearers to set benchmarks in multi-stand categories.
ANDREW MURRAY and JOHN DALLA
In 2023 Andrew Murray and John Dalla teamed up to win a prestigious blade-shearing event against New Zealand. The event was held at Jamestown South Australia and the pair won the trans-Tasman Blades Test. It was the first time an Australian team had won in 13 years. Blade shearing is not solely judged on time. The participants are assessed on he quality of their work and points are deducted for any damage to the animal or fleece.
ETHAN HARDER
Ethan Harder of Bruce Rock Western Australia, is listed in the shearing record books for shearing 624 Merino lambs at Woolakabin, Williams in Western Australia on September 18 2023. The lambs each had a fleece weight of 1.062kg. And all up the record attempt yielded 660kg of wool.
LUKE VERNON
Luke Vernon from Pingelly in Western Australia has a tally of shearing 500 Merino ewes at Thornton Park Grazing, Hasings in Western Australia on April 12 2024. Mr Vernon is originally from New Zealand and to achieve the record he had to shear more than 497 Merino ewes. The previous record was set in 2019 by Lou Brown.
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