Shearing

With Golden Shears 2024 being packed with crowds and the sheer number of women coming into both shearing and wool-handling, how do we keep stoking the fire of talent whilst we wait for a return to better wool prices? 

Four more rural men will put themselves through a gruelling 24-hour Shear 4U shearathon for the second year running, all in the name of charity.

Dave Buick doesn’t do participation. His attention to every little detail is evident from the high-performing farm to his rise to the very top of shearing sports in New Zealand, and his remarkable recovery from a horrific onfarm accident that almost killed him.
Rebecca Greaves reports.

It was supposed to be a non-shearing holiday for Paul Harris when he flew to England recently for his son’s wedding. But as one of only 19 World Sheep Shearing Record Society (WSSRS) referees on the planet, his services were called upon for a world sheep shearing record attempt. By Annabelle Latz.

A North Canterbury couple have a joint interest in judging competition shearing. By Annabelle Latz.

Eighty years ago a young Margaret Hebbard picked up the blades and began to shear. She became something of a celebrity.

 Five years of development has already gone into Rurtec’s cordfree shearing handpiece. Ian Carr, the Hamilton company’s managing director, says the models already on the market are chunky and difficult to handle, removing some of the benefits of not needing to be connected to a power supply.

Shearing has been a way of life for Weber farmers Justin and Diane Bell. It’s been a way to see the world and achieve their goal of farm ownership. Story by Rebecca Greaves. Photos by Brad Hanson.