WOOLGROWERS may have difficulty finding shearing teams again this spring, with some contractors saying the shearer shortage could be worse than last year.
Others are predicting delays, but not as bad as last spring.
While New Zealand shearers can fly direct to WA to work without quarantining on arrival, provided they complete a G2G declaration prior to entry, at this stage they still have to quarantine when they return home.
Under WA's COVID-19 controlled border, New Zealand is considered a "very low risk" jurisdiction, but it is not the same travelling from Australia to New Zealand because of COVID outbreaks in three Eastern States.
The problem WA shearing contractors have is to convince enough New Zealand shearers - who now earn similar money per sheep shorn at home as they would with the award rate here to come over to make up the shortfall and quarantine on the way home.
Some contractors have already been successful in luring New Zealand shearers to WA to help fill the gap, but others have said they were uncertain whether they would be able to attract shearers to come.
But all contractors have ruled out trying to bring extra shearers in from Eastern States.
Some have looked at South Australia but discovered shearing contractors there are in the same situation and wanting to hang on to the shearers they already have.
Lake Grace shearing contractor and Western Australian Shearing Industry Association (WASIA) president Darren Spencer is one of the contractors taking a more pessimistic view of likely shearing shed labour availability this spring.
"By now I've usually got two teams of shearers on the go full-time, but I can't find experienced shearers and trying to find wool handling staff is even harder," Mr Spencer said.
"I've got some learner shearers, but I can't find experienced shearers and wool handlers.
"I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do."
Mr Spencer said there was potential for longer delays in getting shearing teams onto farms than last spring because some shearers had left the industry after last year's mammoth effort to complete spring shearing.
"We could be looking at a situation worse than last year," he said.
"I think the situation is totally different to last year.
"There aren't the same number of shearers and wool handlers wanting work like there was last year.
"I've had one of my regulars off injured on compo and another regular has wandered off this year and I can't replace them.
"Everyone in town has a job - you can't just grab a few young ones to come and be shed hands.
"Also, at the moment, wet sheep are a problem too.
"I had one farmer ring me and say his sheep were too wet even though they'd been in the shed overnight - they hadn't dried out enough to shear and that's going to throw schedules out if it keeps up.
"I know some contractors have managed to bring New Zealand shearers over but I don't think there's too many willing to come.
"We'll (WASIA) talk to the State and Federal governments again about the situation, but that's a bit like talking to a brick wall."
Mr Spencer said shortage would "hit home in a couple of weeks" and could remain a problem "right through until April next year".
However, Mike Henderson of Henderson Shearing, Dongara, one of the shearing contractors most affected by the shearer shortage last year, said he was more optimistic about this spring.
"Look, we can still get shearers from New Zealand, they can still come over," said Mr Henderson, who estimates he was up to 80,000 sheep behind schedule at one stage last spring.
"The travel bubble affects them travelling back to New Zealand after they've been here - at the moment they're still coming."
"I haven't had any who were coming change their mind and say they aren't coming.
"I had a shearer ring me last night (a week ago) who wanted to come in the next week - it will be subject to flights, they will be reduced without any doubt.
"The big difference this year is that people are still willing to come.
"I don't see a big issue (this spring).
"We're always short of shearers every year, from late September to early November.
"It will be busy and people will be whinging about a shortage of shearers - but it's the same every year at this time."
Mr Henderson advised woolgrowers to have mobs organised so when a shearing team arrived all of their sheep were shorn, rather than trying to get the team back a second time.
"The variable this year is that we have a very high lambing rate by the sound of it," he said.
"There's a lot of lambs around and how many of them we have to shear we don't know.
"They might be sold, but if they (woolgrowers) hold onto them or the shipper guys get into the market - a lot of those will have to be shorn - that will put a lot of extra pressure on."
Mr Henderson said lambing was later for a lot of his clients.
"That tends to push everything back - your marking goes later and it flows on, so it's hard to say whether we'll be busy early or later," he said.
Mr Henderson's shearing teams worked from July 12 through to December 23 last year with only one day off and they are expecting "exceptional" wool yields this year.
"Whether it'll be a heavier cut is a moot point, because there was a bit of weight in the bales last year but it wasn't all wool," he said.
"Even around Dongara on the sand plain, we are seeing 70 per cent yields with some of the hoggets we've shorn recently - that's better than we've seen for a long time."
