Number of shearers to decline as flock numbers dive

A few years ago it was difficult to find shearers. Fast forward to this winter and there are “shearers galore” but flocks numbers have taken a dive.

The Australian sheep industry could lose one in five shearers and one in four shed hands in the next six months as the impact of declining sheep numbers starts to flow through.

The warning comes as figures from the Australian Wool Testing Authority show the amount of fibre tested this year is back 15.6 per cent on last year’s already depleted numbers.

Former shearing contractor and committee member of the Shearing Contractors Association of Australia Glenn Haynes said there were “shearers galore” looking for jobs, with many not having significant work for the next two to three months.

“It’s like you can hand pick your crew at the moment,” Mr Haynes said.

“We all knew that the work would come to a screaming halt due to the tough season pushing sheep numbers down, and it’s happening right now.”

Mr Haynes said chatter that shearers were hard to find was wrong, and should not be used as an excuse to sell sheep woolly for slaughter, or not run at all.

“If someone came to me today, I could have 10-20 crews waiting to go,” he said.

Mr Haynes said while some speculated a shortage of work would push poor performers out of the industry, the opposite could happen.

“Those professionals who do a good job won’t want to sit around for two to three months – they will go out and get another job and one that provides them with a uniform and better working hours, and they won’t want to come back to the industry,” he said

“I would say we will lose one in five shearers and one in four wool handlers in the next six months.”

One in five shearers could leave the industry in the next six months due to lack of work.

Shearing rates, which lifted during Covid, have also fallen, with few paying much above the award of $3.84/sheep with $4/sheep now common, he said.

Yulecart sheep producer Brad Venning said the shearing industry had moved full circle, from an under supply to oversupply of shearers.

“When there was a shortage, a lot of shearers were charging well above the award, but that doesn’t seem to be the case now,” Mr Venning said.

“Supply and demand have come back into equilibrium, and probably a bit more in the supply side (more shearers).”

Mr Venning said declining sheep numbers were playing a part as well as the lack of returns for crossbred wool especially, which encouraged some producers to sell stock with their wool still on.

Official figures from the AWTA show the organisation has tested 1,579,141 bales of wool this season; down from 1,873,307 bales last year and 2,061,219 bales a decade ago for the same time period.

In terms of volume, wool tested as slipped from 365,560 tonnes in 2014-15 to 282,480 tonnes this season so far.