A lack of shearers and wool handlers has plagued the sheep industry for the past few years but there is hope it is turning around.
More and more young people are showing a willingness to work in the sheds with most shearing schools fully booked this year in SA and enquiry out to June next year.
Between mid January 2021 and last week the Shearing Contractors Association of Australia had 219 people who attended a course go into the industry full time in SA and Vic.
Another SCAA shearer and wool handling training school was held at Furner this week with 10 learners from the South East and as far afield as Loxton and Victor Harbor.
It is the sixth consecutive year that Richie Kirkland has hosted the school on his property.
Year 10 student Henry Boord from Naracoorte says it has been great to progress from picking up a handpiece to shearing a sheep within a couple of days.
He sees being able to shear his family's sheep as a great skill to have.
"Shearers are getting harder to get and so if I need to I could do my own and if I want to I can head down that career path and earn a heap of money doing it (shearing) full-time".
Another young local, Austin Nettle from Clay Wells has his sights set on being a shearer and says the instructors in the course have been a big help.
"It has helped me with my foot movement, I have done a bit of crutching but not a lot," he said.
Fellow participant Tory Mueller from Southend says learning to shear is the next step after roustabouting for the past six years around SA, NSW and even New Zealand.
"I have been crutching for the past two months and I love it," she said.
"For the past few years I have been jumping on the stand on the hour or at the end of a run and having a bit of a go but I have never had the privilege of being taught like this."
She says the shearing itself has been the highlight of the week, along with learning how to grind combs and cutters.
"I find it so satisfying watching that wool peel off but I have also learned that the tools of the trade are really important," she said.
"It is a great industry, there are so much money to be made and friends to be made."
SCAA executive officer Glenn Haynes says it is really encouraging to see such strong interest in the schools.
"All of the schools have been full for months and we have a lot of enquiry already for February, March, April and out to Jamestown in June," he said.
"We have put an extra three learner schools in this year plus there is an extra two improver schools next year in the Flinders Ranges and Eyre Peninsula to cater for it - we don't want to turn them away."
He says graduates of the schools can walk into a job due to the Wool Harvesting Employee program which links the participants with a network of contractors from SA, Vic, Tas and even NSW.
"We have a list of guys who will take them straight away and put them in a good environment and away they go," Mr Haynes said.
He welcomes Australian Wool Innovation's funding commitment of $10.5m for the wool harvesting industry in the next three years. He says it will ensure trainers can follow up in the sheds with recent participants and also conduct workshops at secondary schools.
"We send our trainers on the job and help them (the school graduates) with their technique and make sure their gear is right, the first few weeks are the hardest but after three weeks they are usually shearing 100 or more," he said.
