SHEARERS FROM OZ DO A BONZER JOB…
SHEARERS FROM OZ DO A BONZER JOB…
Innovation and good service are cornerstones of a contract operation
providing effective services for sheep farmers. Peter Hill reports on the
dipping and shearing activities of an operator in the south of England
Shearers in action – Kingi Bassett (left) and Andrew Lewis, from New Zealand and Australia respectively, in action shearing Suffolk Cross and Bleu du Maine at Paul Collinsons Norton Farm, Seaford, East Sussex.
FARMERS who are properly prepared and organised for a visit by the sheep shearing team, those are the customers that Rob Morris likes best.
"If the sheep are ready penned, with lambs drafted from the ewes, and there is sufficient help on hand to keep the animals close up to the shearers, the job will go well," he says.
The problems start when nothings ready and the Antipodean shearers are expected to help get things prepared.
"These guys are professionals who dont expect to do anything other than shear sheep; thats what they do back home and thats all they are paid for here," adds Mr Morris. "Fortunately, they get used to being a bit adaptable after their first visit to Britain and our customers are pretty well organised most of the time."
Rob Morris runs the sheep services side of a family contracting business based at Brede near Rye in Sussex. His son Scott runs the arable operation.
Dipping and shearing are the two main services, neatly dovetailing as shearing continues from the first of May to the end of June, with dipping starting up early July.
Changes in management practices and the difficulties being experienced by the sheep farming sector have had a significant impact on the business.
"The biggest change occurred when compulsory dipping for scab was abandoned a few years ago," he says. "We quickly dropped from doing around 100,000 sheep a year at one time to between 10,000 and 20,000. But numbers have climbed to around 53,000 as farmers have seen scab getting worse again every year."
Improvements in throughput and efficiency – in an effort to contain costs as much as anything, with farmers understandably wanting to pay as little as possible for this work – have resulted from commissioning a purpose-made trailed rig that sprays rather than dips the sheep.
"Dipping was a slow process under the compulsory scheme because animals had to be submerged for a minute to ensure a thorough drenching," says Mr Morris.
"Modern spray and shower systems also give good coverage but it can be difficult to control the speed that sheep pass through them."
With animals reluctant to head into the spray, then keen to get through as quickly as possible, shower application can be variable. To get round this, Mr Morris borrowed an idea from New Zealand by incorporating a rubber belt conveyor in his rig.
"As long as the sheep are kept tight behind each other, they have no choice but to pass through the spray at a set speed," he points out. "It was expensive to have a one-off rig like this; but Im really pleased with the way it works and customers have been happy with the results over the five years its been in use."
The one saving grace with shearing is that sheep farmers really have no choice whether to do it or not; and few have the equipment, inclination or ability to do it themselves.
The problem facing contractors and the industry in general is a shortage of skilled shearers. It is an issue that frequently arises in meetings of the NAAC livestock section, of which Mr Morris is chairman this year.
"We need about 500 shearers from Australia and New Zealand to cope with the national flock," he points out. "But declining numbers and the attraction of better pay and working conditions means fewer young men are learning the skills."
The NAAC section helps the recruitment process by keeping stocks of work permit application forms and accompanying notes to help contractors wanting to employ overseas shearers fill them in properly.
Having experienced some of the antics of young Antipodeans living many thousands of miles from home, Mr Morris is delighted to welcome back the two contract shearers he has welcomed to these shores for the past three years. Kingi Bassett hails from New Zealand, Andrew Lewis and Katherine, their "rousy", who rolls and packs the fleeces, are both from Australia.
"They are really keen, hard-working guys," says Mr Morris. "And theyre fit – but then you have to be to get through 300 sheep a day."
They bring their own hand-pieces, combs and cutters, as well as the trade-mark soft moccasins that give them grip on the greasy shearing board. Its a relentless process as the fleeces are cut from the ewes in one piece and in a virtually seamless series of strokes during which the ewe does a full 360deg rotation pinned by the shearers legs and elbows. The secret, it seems, is to hold them firm, keep their feet off the floor and the get job done before they can even think about trying to struggle away.
A purpose-made shearing trailer helps; it holds around a dozen ewes at a time, has spring-loaded access doors, carries the slot-in supports for shearing system motors and dropper tubes, and is quickly raised on removable axles when the jobs done. *
Rob Morris: "A good shearer will work fast but also accurately enough to avoid double cuts that shorten the staple and affect the quality of the fleece."