Time for shearing to be recognised as a trade
DAYNE West has spent years running a local business as a shearing contractor, and he also teaches shearing to a new generation of workers as a part-time teacher at TAFE'S Rural Skills campus on the Narromine Road.
He's concerned that shearers, like the national flock which has plummeted from 180 million sheep to just 60 million in recent decades, will face a shortage of supply.
"We're arguably in the worst drought, and when we come out of it, we're going to need local staff here, and we're going to need these skillsets here. So maintaining what we've actually got here in Dubbo is the big focus," Mr West said.
Mr West believes shearing isn't on a level playing field with other skilled occupations and said that flaw in public policy is holding the industry back.
"I've got a lot of concerns about the industry including recognition – we need the shearing industry recognised as a trade. That would open up the funding when it comes to apprenticeships, as opposed to traineeships," he said.
The local entry-level course, Introduction to Wool Harvesting, encompasses shearing right through to all the shedhand-type jobs as well, “so we're trying to get recognition for that side of things”, he said.
Health and safety is already a big focus for the industry. “We try and work on the safe manual handling techniques,” Mr West said, for example keeping a nice, neutral back when they're bending the knees. “There are slings that can aid shearers as long as they're hung up correctly, so we're really focussed on that posture and strength conditioning.
There’s also an emphasis on nutrition: “Keeping ourselves hydrated – doing all that, we’re no different to any other trade," Mr West said.
He's currently working with Worksafe NSW and other agencies to push shearing as a trade and says there's growing momentum for it to happen.
"I know the NSW Farmers Association is pushing pretty heavily with the agriculture minister on making it a trade, so we're just trying to work on that momentum. It's been in the media and we're just trying to get that awareness, and then working on what's the best model," he said.
The trainees love the course, knowing it's setting them up to be able to shear with the least strain on their bodies.
Patrick Beissel is a registered nurse who looks after dialysis patients, but out of work hours he wanted to be able to shear his small flock of sheep near Bilpin, on the Bells Line of Road.
"I've come without any experience at all and now I'm shearing a sheep... I feel so much more confident than I did earlier in the course," Mr Beissel said, pointing out how important is it to have a novice course available for any comers.
"It's unbelievable, really, that (they’re willing to take on) someone in my position, who's not looking to be in the industry, and show me how to do this.”
He can also see how much more confidence other people doing the same course are gaining.
"It's an amazing opportunity for people to get the heads-up on how the industry works, and even if you are in the industry, just to get that refinement and get good technique from the start and knock those bad habits on the head straightaway.
“Dayne's just a magician really, he knows what he's doing and he's run the course really, really well," Mr Beissel said.
Dayne West agrees the shearing course is vital for the industry to survive and says Dubbo is at the top of the training tree.
"If it's not the best, it's in the top couple in the country and has been for a long time, since (the course) was established in the early 2000s.
“We want to see it continue, that's why I came back here to work with some of the trainers that we've got," Mr West said.
Not a lot of people look at shearing as a career that can take you around the world, but Mr West thinks the potential for travel is exciting for young people coming into the industry. He said they can travel the world while earning good money at the same time.
"Definitely – for me personally, I was going to have a gap year and then go and be an Ag teacher, but 21 years later and here I am. I've travelled the world, I've been to the Calgary Stampede, over to Europe, into New Zealand plenty of times – places I never thought I'd go to," Mr West said.
The course is currently being fully funded. “It's an $1100 course that's running for free as long as they have left school.
“We've had quite a number of school leavers come through here over the years – I did that myself – and you get the skills to make $200 to $300 per day, and then go back off to uni.”
Many have even been able to pay their own way through university over those three to four years, “and come out with a brand new Landcruiser and a uni degree,” he said.
"With the drought, we're seeing a downturn in the numbers coming to the course so we just need to get it out there that we want to keep people getting this knowledge.
“We're running another course in January, another novice course, and backing it up with an improver course.
“We want to get people into the industry and we want to keep people in the local area.”
The time will come, hopefully sooner rather than later, when the demand for shearers will be high.
“We need to give them the skillsets because, when the drought breaks, the sheep will come back," he said.
` Dayne’s just a magician really, he knows what he’s doing and he’s run the course really, really well.