Young farmer and shearer earns big bucks and shapes his character in Australia’s toughest workplace

In shearing, young farmer Lachie Macgugan reconnected with his roots and found a job where he can drive himself to achieve.

Twenty-five year-old Lachie Macgugan says there is nowhere he’d rather be than in a shearing shed.

“I bloody love it,” the Branxholme young farmer and shearer said.

Approaching his fourth year shearing, Lachie said the industry had taken him half way around Australia and exposed him to all types of sheep, farms and facilities.

And some of them — especially in outback Queensland — were pretty rough, with even big properties lacking basics like running water and working toilets.

But the tough conditions are not a turn-off for Lachie, who said while he’d like to see some improvement in sheds that drag the chain on basic amenities, the challenge was part of what made shearing so rewarding.

Shearer Lachie Macgugan’s next big milestone is shearing 400 sheep in one day. Picture: Supplied

“You get a better view of the big picture — there is so much more than the Western District, and we are pretty lucky here, in parts of Queensland there is no grass, just dirt everywhere,” he said.

Lachie and his family — parents Duncan and Sue, and brother Jamie, 23 — have farms in Victoria’s Western District, running super fine Merinos and cattle over 1390ha on two properties.

And while Lachie always imagined he would come back to the farm at some point, he “wasn’t deadset on it” when he was younger.

“We didn’t help Dad much at all, and now I kinda feel bad about that.”

He took a gap year, then went to Melbourne and studied events management for a year and spent another year or so working in bars.

Studies were a “bit of an excuse to live in the city for a bit” and while the city life was fun, Lachie said making ends meet was a battle.

“I wanted to find a way to reconnect to everyone back home and make a good amount of money at the same time”.

So, he came home and asked his Dad if he could shear 300 ewes. It took him a week and lead to plenty of frustration and pain. “It was horrible,” Lachie recalls.

But he stuck him to the task, and shortly after he got a start with his own stand as a learner.

What followed was a year of “pain”. “It was really difficult, I’d have my hands in ice every night,” he said.

But, once his body and mind hardened, and thanks to help on techniques of shearing and grinding from four shearing schools and experienced fellow shearers, the reward for effort kicked in.

“I started to enjoy it more and more,” he said.

“Once you figure it out it is such a rewarding job and you learn a lot about yourself through hard work; like resilience, determination, not giving up and trying to keep calm under adversity.”

Tool of the trade: Lachie Macgugan. Picture: Supplied

Even the poor conditions provide an opportunity to appreciate simple luxuries like a comfortable bed.

Sheds throughout the country are filled with shearers and shed hands who are “all so nice and friendly and supportive”, Lachie said, “I’ve met some amazing people along the way”.

“It is so rewarding to see everyone working hard together,” he said.

Lachie has shorn an admirable 324 sheep in a day, and 400 is the next goal, with the ambitious target this year’s aspiration.

“Everyday, every run, it is what motivates me, setting goals, 100 sheep, then 200, 300 and 400,” he said.

“But its not all about numbers, you also want to do a good clean job.”

At this rate, Lachie is making $2000 a week before tax, and up to $3000 in a really good innings.

“I love the fact that the harder you work, the more money you make.”

For anyone considering shearing, Lachie said they “really, should just have a go; it is so much more rewarding than what you’d think”.

While the long-term goal was always to farm with his family, Lachie hopes to balance those commitments with some shearing.

“I’d shear for another 10 years if I could, but I do need to give Dad a hand,” he said.