SHEAR PASSION!
Champion sheep shear er Hazel Wood from documentary She Shea rs tells us 10 facts about her industry
1 Shearing has traditionally been male-dominated. In the ’80s, there were more than 15,000 full-time shearers in NZ and only 2 three of them were female! It’s a competitive sport, but there are no separate categories for male or female – the sexes compete against 3 each other. The Golden Shears is an annual championship in Masterton. It’s like the Olympic Games of 4 sheep shearing. Shearing is bloody hard work and you need to be super-fit. The average sheep weighs 40-50kg and they don’t always make 5 it easy on you! Champion female shearers can shear more than 648 sheep 6 in one day! Sheep are shorn in all seasons, 7 not just spring. Shearers wear special shoes called moccasins to help them “dance” around the sheep. It’s all in the footwork! 8 You can’t shear a wet sheep, so if it rains and the sheep aren’t under 9 cover, you can’t work! Shearers work as part of a team alongside the farmers, shearing contractors, wool handlers and 10You wool pressers.
get paid per sheep, so if you shear lots, you get paid lots!