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Wool Harvesting
Wool harvesting involves the shearing of sheep and work involved in the preparation of wool for sale. Wool harvesting occurs in all states.
The wool harvesting industry offers a challenging, physical and interesting lifestyle, often involving extensive travel and living away from home for short periods. Young workers view working visits to regional and remote areas of Australia as an attractive benefit.
There are good financial returns for top shearers and good returns for woolclassers during the shearing season.
The five main occupations in the wool harvesting industry are wool handler, shearer, classer, and woolclasser and contractor. Each is a highly skilled job.
Whilst most new entrants to the industry will begin as wool handlers, workers will generally choose to follow one of two main pathways early in their career.
The first pathway leads to becoming a woolclasser and the second leads to becoming a professional shearer. A career in this industry can also lead to managerial and other related occupations.
The industry provides particular opportunities in relation to how you will be employed. Workers may be employed directly with a wool grower, or be part; of a contract team. Woolclassers are also employed within Australia’s service network of small and large wool brokers.
There is a relatively high turnover of shearers and wool handlers because of the physical work involved and the requirement to spend periods away from home. This in turn creates good work opportunities for young people.
Shearers and wool handlers with families often prefer to travel out to shearing sheds each day rather than travel to the remoter properties and live in shearers’ quarters.
With 5000 shearers and a similar number of wool handlers and crutchers needed for shearing and crutching each year, it is estimated that over 1000 new staff are required annually, as well as 300-400 new woolclassers to prepare the clip for sale. Many wool growers are qualified to class their own clips.
Many woolgrowers’ sons and daughters work and study in the wool harvesting industry to gain skills in sheep classing, selection and breeding, and wool classing. This can provide off-farm employment that helps in supplementing farm income. This group forms a significant proportion of those working in the Australian wool harvesting industry.
Wool handling work provides an excellent starting point for those interested in working in the wool harvesting industry. In this job you will work as part of a team with shearers, woolclassers and other shearing shed staff.
A wool handler is skilled and trained at a range of tasks, including:
•picking up fleeces
•sweeping the board
•skirting and rolling fleeces
•penning up sheep
•pressing wool in bales.
The national qualification available for a wool handler who has either undertaken training or learnt the skills on the job is the Certificate II in Agriculture (Wool Handling).
Other sheep and wool training programs offered in each state will cover some or all of the skills required by wool handlers – depending on the individual electives offered by the training provider. These skills are often included within Level 2 traineeship programs – check with your state Rural Industry Training Board for local programs.
Wool Handlers can train as wool classers and gain employment in shearing sheds or working for wool brokers in wool stores in the major wool selling centres.
Shearers remove wool from sheep and perform the essential tasks that improve the efficiency of their shearing.
Their tasks include:
•shearing sheep
•maintaining shearing equipment
•working as part of a team.
Shearers begin their careers as learner shearers attached to a shearing team.
To assist on-the-job learning within the shearing team, shearing schools are run from time to time in each state to provide training in the most efficient shearing techniques. The state Rural Industry Training Boards and local wool brokers are a good source of information.
Shearers progress from learners to improvers when they can shear 80 sheep per day. Because they are paid on a system based on the number of sheep shorn, there are strong incentives for shearers to improve their tallies.
Improvers’ schools and coaching are available in most states to assist shearers to achieve high output levels.
The Certificate II in Agriculture (Shearing) is the national qualification for shearers.
Shearers can develop their skills to improve their rates of pay, and many continue their careers as contractors who employ shearing teams that travel from shed to shed. There is also seasonal work for people skilled at crutching. Crutching involves the removal of wool contaminated by dung and urine from the rear end of the sheep.
Owner classers prepare and document wool for sale from their own or their family properties.
The owner classer performs most of the tasks of a professional woolclasser (see later), except that they do not have the broad range of skills or experience required to class an expanded range of wool types.
An owner classer’s work includes:
•preparing the shed and yards for shearing
•penning up sheep, preparing wool, arranging the preparation of non-fleece wool
•documenting the wool clip
•supervising wool handlers
•implementing and monitoring health and safety
•preparing shearing team wages
•sharpening combs and cutters.
Before working as an owner classer, individuals must seek an “Owner Classer Stencil” from the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX), to be used on the bales of wool they class.
The national qualification available for an owner classer is the Certificate III in Agriculture (Clip Preparation). Owner classers gain their competencies and qualification from a combination of skills learnt on the job and formal training.
Professional woolclassers move from shed to shed, directing wool handlers in the preparation of wool to create lines of uniform quality for sale.
To do this they require detailed knowledge of the characteristics of a broad range of wool types and good supervision and team leadership skills. Work undertaken by professional woolclassers includes:
•supervising wool handlers
•determining the classing strategy for the wool clip
•monitoring shearing shed supplies
•establishing and maintaining the farm’s occupational health and safety program
•conducting and assessing workplace training.
Their work – by negotiation with the wool grower – may also involve:
•arranging employment
•managing shearing operations
•sharpening combs and cutters
•accounting for shearing shed supplies
•preparing team wages.
The national qualification for a professional woolclasser is the Certificate IV in Agriculture (Wool Classing).
Professional woolclassers generally obtain their qualification through a combination of formal coursework and extensive related on the job training.
Quality assurance is a critical issue for the Australian wool clip.
To operate as a professional woolclasser, individuals must apply to the Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) for a “Professional Classers Stencil”. The minimum requirement for a stencil is the achievement of the competencies described for the Certificate IV above.
Shearing contractors manage teams of shearers and shed staff and undertake all arrangements for managing and servicing shearing sheds for the property owners who engage them.
The work of the shearing contractor includes:
•arranging employment
•managing shearing operations
•sharpening combs and cutters
To become a shearing contractor, you will require experience working as a shearer or professional woolclasser, and as a manager of shearing shed staff and their operations. Management skills can be developed through units in Rural Business Management.
To achieve a Diploma in Agriculture (Rural Business Management) or an Advanced Diploma in Agriculture (Rural) Business Management), you will be required to demonstrate that you possess the necessary business management knowledge and skills and that you can apply this knowledge to rural industry standards.
Specialist rural business management training programs are available on a full-time or part-time basis in all states, or through open learning.
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