TWO more jointly-funded regional novice shearer and wool handler training hub camps, plus a further improver shearer training school, are being planned for this year.
The next novice shearer and wool handler training hub camp is expected to be held at Nungarin for Wheatbelt people and is likely to include a number of indigenous trainees.
It could be held as soon as the end of next month or early March.
The improver training school - held on three stands of a working shearing shed at Emanuel Exports Pty Ltd's Peel feedlot and for the most promising trainees from the hub camps - could be held in March.
As well, shearing contractors attending the Western Australian Shearing Industry Association (WASIA) annual meeting in Perth on January 16 were told another shearer and wool handler training course could also be held next month in Esperance.
Association for Sheep Husbandry, Excellence, Evaluation and Production (ASHEEP) course co-ordinator Basil Parker has run two successful training courses which provided learner shearers for Great Southern contractors.
He has another eight young people ready to do the next course, the WASIA meeting was told.
Contractors were told "about half" of some 35 novice shearers and wool handlers who attended four regional hub training camps jointly funded by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) with WASIA involvement last year, had found work in the industry.
Trainees from the hub camps and improver school, AWI-funded shearing and wool handling courses at Rylington Park, Mayanup and from the Esperance ASHEEP courses have bolstered shearing teams, depleted of interstate and New Zealand shearers and wool handlers because of COVID-19 this year, for the main spring shearing season.
There was talk at the AGM of some Great Southern contractors having "borrowed" some of Rylington Park's best learners for a few days to help out.
Contractors said some of the trainee shearers who had attended courses and gained learners' stands with them had "stepped up" and achieved their first 100 sheep shorn in a day.
They included Lachlan Hansen, 21, of Bunbury, who was featured as a Farm Weekly Young Gun in November.
Aaron Piper, Dinninup Shearing Services, said Mr Hansen cracked 100 sheep a day twice in a recent week.
"There's likely to be a lot of first 100s this season," Mr Piper said.
Contractors at the meeting indicated that while the spring shearing season had been extremely difficult without the usual interstate and New Zealand shearers, it had been achieved without exceptional delays because shearing teams had worked at least six days a week.
The longest shearing delays had been in the northern Wheatbelt region, but Dongara-based contractor and WASIA treasurer Mike Henderson, who usually relies heavily on New Zealand shearers, said on Saturday he was "up to date as of today".
However, contractors admitted shearing teams were tiring and it looked like they could now face the autumn shearing period - more wool is shorn in autumn than in spring in WA - without help from interstate and New Zealand.
Two-week novice training hub camps - two at Northampton, one near Brookton and one at Wellstead - plus a one-week improvers shearing school at the Peel feedlot, were jointly funded last year by AWI and DPIRD.
But only one of the two Northampton hub camps in Greg and Jane Teakle's shearing shed, the hub camp in Robert Davy's shed at Wellstead and the improvers school fell within the current financial year.
AWI and DPIRD representatives at Saturday's meeting said therefore funding was available to run two more regional novice hub camps and one more improvers school this financial year.
AWI stakeholder engagement co-ordinator Ellie Bigwood confirmed the AWI industry training funds for hub camps and improver schools was in addition to its committed funding for eight one-week shearer and wool handler training courses at Rylington Park and the equivalent of 265 days of "in-shed" shearer and wool handler training.
"Shearer and wool handler training has always been a really important part of AWI's investment portfolio," Ms Bigwood told WASIA members.
In 2019-20 AWI funding helped provide a total of 370 days of training for 1008 learners and improvers in WA, second only to New South Wales, she said.
AWI spent 31 per cent of its training budget in WA, compared to 32pc in NSW, she indicated.
"WA actually has more dollars spent on shearers for the number of sheep shorn, in terms of training, than anywhere else," Ms Bigwood said.
Just over three quarters of AWI's total training budget was spent on in-shed shearing training, 9pc on in-shed wool handling training and 15pc on novice and improver schools and workshops, she said.
DPIRD principal business development officer Ashley Talbot confirmed the idea of involving indigenous young people in shearer and wool handling training had come from Agriculture and Food and Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan.
Mr Talbot also confirmed the State government was "committed" to another improver school - possibly in March - and two more hub training camps, with the next one likely to be held at Nungarin.
"There's around 7000 sheep on a farm out there," Mr Talbot said.
"I've been out there with Todd (former shearer, shearer trainer and Heiniger WA territory manager Todd Wegner who provides handpieces for training hubs) and had an impromptu meeting with about 15 Aboriginal guys in a park in Merredin.
"Every town where we held these (hub camps) last year, the local community involvement was amazing."
Mr Talbot said part of the hub camps training focussed on life skills - "simple little things like a drivers' licence and getting out of bed in the morning" - and he hoped to have "conversations" with contractors on what improvements could be made to make trainees more work ready.
AWI shearer trainer Kevin Gellatly praised contractors for their support of the various training schemes by being prepared to put trainees on learner stands and give them a go.
"I think we've got pretty good value for our buck out of these schools in my personal opinion," Mr Gellatly said.
He also welcomed Nungarin as the likely location of the next training hub.
"You'd be surprised how many sheep are out there - Nungarin, Wyalkatchem, Bencubbin - and it's hard to get shearers out there because the sheep are as big as a table," he said.
Parliamentary secretary to Ms MacTiernan and Agriculture Region MLC Darren West told the WASIA meeting the planned training hubs and courses this year might take the industry to "saturation point" in terms of finding people looking for careers as shearers or wool handlers.
But the State government hoped to continue running "a few" of the training schools every year, Mr West said.
The past six months has been "remarkably busy" for WASIA, Lake Grace shearing contractor and WASIA president Darren Spencer told the annual general meeting.
Apart from involvement with novice shearer and wool handler training, some time was spent trying to get approval for shearers to come into WA, Mr Spencer said.
This included a chance meeting with Premier Mark McGowan at a shopping centre.
"In October I happened to be in a shopping centre in Perth and saw Premier McGowan meeting and greeting people, along with the Labor candidate for Hillarys," he said.
"I took the opportunity to discuss with him the shearer shortage and likelihood of getting shearers for the summer-autumn run and the necessity to get ewes shorn prior to lambing.
"Valerie (WASIA executive officer Valerie Pretzel) followed this up with a letter to the Premier, the Minister for Agriculture and DPIRD.
"We got an immediate response from DPIRD with a Zoom meeting and offer of assistance to get G2G passes approved.
"(But) this has now changed again with COVID-19 outbreaks in the Eastern States, so we must wait a bit longer to get shearers into the State."
The launch of the Safe Sheds shearing shed safety program and assessment tools in the Boyle family's shearing shed at Broomehill in November was the culmination of three years' work, Mr Spencer pointed out.
It was another collaboration between WASIA and AWI, he pointed out.
Mr Spencer made special mention of the passing of two WASIA members during the past year.
They were former WASIA committee member, shearer and shearing contractor for 63 years Brian 'Bero' Beresford and shearer, mentor, former WA Police Aboriginal liaison officer and founder of Geraldton's Mhunga Whalla not-for-profit group which became a driving force behind the Northampton training hubs, Bobby Pepper.
