IT is undeniably one of the country's toughest jobs, but shearers have worked even harder to earn a dollar this season.
A triple whammy - in record lambings, less transfers over east and an eight to 10-week meat processing logjam - meant thousands of extra sheep needed to be shorn.
Servicing the Badgingarra and Dongara areas, Henderson Shearing owner Mike Henderson expected the 2022-23 season to wrap-up in about a week.
He said almost all of his clients were now running higher numbers than usual onfarm.
"I have over 100 clients, imagine if every one of them had, for example, 500 more sheep," Mr Henderson said.
"I'm not saying we deal with all of those sheep, but we do deal with a percentage of them."
Over the past two months, shearers have shorn an extra 2000-plus head at some properties, which normally would have been sent for processing in December.
However, it has not come as a surprise for Mr Henderson, who said issues had built up over the past 12 months.
This was only exacerbated by the "best lambing season on record" last year.
It was a double-edged sword, as even more lambs looked to enter an already tight market.
"We had guys scanning at 150 per cent - it was crazy how many lambs were around the area," Mr Henderson said.
"It made the problem abattoirs were facing worse, because they were still processing old season lambs in July and August.
"Over the past five years, we have had a release valve in the Eastern States, where truckload after truckload of sheep could be sent.
"We haven't seen that this year, and if people looked at sending them to the saleyards instead - they would be at the mercy of the market."
Fortunately, despite the increase in sheep numbers onfarm, Mr Henderson has had less trouble finding shearers to get the massive job done.
He owed this to training courses, which aimed to attract and retain new entrants into the wool harvesting industry.
What actually proved most difficult this season, was sourcing labour to fill woolhandler, classer and presser roles.
"Put it this way, some days I haven't been able to send shearers to work because I haven't had enough people to do the wool - it's all about finding that balance," Mr Henderson said.
"We engaged about half a dozen backpackers this autumn.
"In spring we seem to still get the Kiwis.
"The one thing that encourages backpackers to work with us is the 88 days of farm work, for a one-year visa extension.
"Hopefully the government does not change that, because it is a really good incentive and helpful to agriculture."
Mr Henderson said New Zealand shearers often didn't stay for the Australian summer, when the season peaked at home in November to March.
He said this period crossed over with two significant peaks in WA.
"The fact is, with modern farming, everyone has a variety of different jobs to do onfarm," Mr Henderson said.
"This means the ideal time to shear, crutch and process sheep is in two windows and everyone is chasing contractors at the same time.
"I guess you could say we don't have a shortage - we just have a shortage for two months in spring and six weeks in autumn, when everyone wants their work done."
Also challenging the workforce was a large number of Kiwis, who had decided to chase the wool clip over east.
Previously, those shearers would have taken to the stand in local sheds, however were lured by cheaper flights home, higher pay rates and more crossbred sheep.
"It is closer to New Zealand, which means it is easier to fly out of Melbourne and Sydney compared to here," Mr Henderson said.
"The pay rates are generally higher, even though we have adjusted ours to stay competitive.
"And there is also a higher percentage of crossbred type sheep, which the Kiwis are more proficient at shearing."
He added, "in saying that, we still have people coming to WA and a good, strong, local base too.
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"There are certainly more than during COVID," Mr Henderson said.
In the pandemic's first year - when international and State borders were closed - Mr Henderson's shearing program was falling a week behind, every week.
Powering through each day, his teams operated continuously from early July until right before Christmas - and they felt the impact both physically and mentally.
Mr Henderson and his staff decided working at this capacity was not sustainable.
"The following year, he didn't work a lot of weekends or worked every second weekend instead," he said.
"We managed to get through and found other contractors for some clients.
"This season (or the one that's just passed) has gone the other way - where we had so many more people and managed to take on more work."
Mr Henderson said "from a shearing perspective we probably aren't going to be as busy as we have been going forward".
"From what I'm hearing, there could be less sheep in certain areas if people reduce numbers or move out of them entirely," he said.
On a positive note, Mr Henderson found sheep had cut more wool this season of higher quality.
He said this would continue into next season, thanks to an abundance of feed available throughout the year.
"It doesn't sound like much, but it might be half a kilogram - half a kilogram on five kilograms is another 10 per cent per sheep.
"You know when you've had a good year, there is going to be a big wool cut the year after.
"And this spring we are going to get it."
