Shearing is in the blood for Caiden Cox, who has a real passion for competitive shearing.
He follows in his father Andrew's foot steps and is progressing on working on his tallies.
Mr Cox has started this year's shearing competition season strongly by winning the novice division at the Darkan Sheepfest.
He did well at Wagin Woolorama in March, being up against the best of the best novice shearers in Western Australia.
The next big event, after a series of smaller shows, will be the Perth Royal Show shearing competition in September.
Mr Cox grew up on his family's farm in the Central Wheatbelt town of Kellerberrin.
He is the fifth generation of the family to be farming, albeit on a part-time basis at present.
High school was spent at Merredin College and the WA College of Agriculture - Cunderdin, for the final two years, where he was able to do several units in shearing and further develop his skills on the handpiece.
"I have always had an interest in farming and my time at Cunderdin cemented that," Mr Cox said.
Upon leaving school, he took up a diesel apprenticeship with AFGRI Equipment in Merredin, working in the town and surrounding districts - and while he has only recently started, he loves the role.
A month into the apprenticeship and Mr Cox is loving his new position.
"At AFGRI, everyone is super helpful and they are a great team to work for," Mr Cox said.
"I am learning a lot of new skills, including machinery diagnostics and how to fix a wide range of problems as they arise.
"I am able to take this knowledge back to the farm and continue to grow my understanding of agricultural machinery."
Mr Cox remains an active part of the family's 2000-hectare cropping and sheep farm, where he works after hours and when he is not shearing.
He is let loose on the family's sheep, shearing the culls and cleaning up odds and ends throughout the year.
"We do get the local Kelly Gang Shearing contractors in for our main shearing, as dad has now retired and I can't do the whole lot," he said.
Mr Cox is hoping to place well in enough shearing events this year to qualify for the national titles to be held in Katanning later in the year.
Last year he attended the national event in Jamestown, South Australia and was second in his novice division.
"I was pretty happy with myself, as the competition was pretty tough," he said.
"Soon I will be out of novice and into intermediate and that's when things will get a lot tougher."
Mr Cox said there were many benefits in participating in shearing competitions.
"You get pushed and strive to succeed," he said.
"You learn new skills to do a better and faster job on the sheep.
"We need to keep growing the shearing industry and supporting agriculture.
"The future is in these shearing and wool handling competitions to ensure the continued growth of the Australian shearing industry.
"There are a lot of gun shearers on the circuit and it is good to watch and learn from them.
"There is always someone on hand to help you finetune your technique."
