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Wool

Young chase big bucks in West Australian shearing sheds amid workforce shortfall

Jak Rice went to shearing school hoping to build a career in wool, but what started as a necessity quickly became a passion as he works to improve his daily tally.
a man with a mullet in a blue singlet

French shearer facing deportation amid worker shortage says visa regulations need to change

Nicolas Hardy arrived in Australia at the peak of a shearer shortage and "went to the sheds" to back up the wool industry. Three years later, his employer wants to keep him but his visa options are running out.
A man standing in a shearing shed.

Shearers take over country pub to see who can fleece the fastest

Pub manager Linda Boylan said many of her "regular bar flies" hadn't seen a sheep being shorn up close before, and flocked to the pub where it was standing room only.
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a man wearing a blue singlet shears a sheep in front of people

Once the largest employer of women in Tasmania, the Mill is remembered by workers a century after it spun its first yarn

Tasmania's textile industry thrived soon after this iconic wool mill opened its doors in 1923. As the building's centenary is celebrated, former workers reflect on their time at Patons & Baldwins.
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A horse and cart placed outside the Coats Patons factory in a historical black and white  image.

After surviving a brain tumour, Corey is back in the shearing shed doing what he loves

The thought of working and rejoining his shearing team kept Corey Bolt positive during treatment. Now, he's easing back into the physically demanding role.
Young shearer at work in the sheds, shearing sheep.

From the shed to the dining room, long-retired wool-sorting tables given new life and purpose

Queensland carpenter Jason Porter is giving precious pieces of farming history new life — and new jobs — as glass-topped dining tables.
A man sits behind his long working table in his workshop filled with multiple tools.

New Zealand famously has more sheep than people. So why are we shipping our wool to them?

New Zealand is known for its jaw-dropping scenery, first-class food and wine, and sheep — lots of them. But their flock is now a third of what it was 40 years ago, and Aussies are stepping in with plenty of merino wool to sell.
merino sheep graze on button grass plains with snow covered mountains in the background

Wool tipped to become 'niche product' as live export phase-out and shearing issues cause shortages

Australian merino wool products could become more boutique and harder to source, if a forecast decline in Western Australia's sheep flock comes to fruition.
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Clothes on hangers at a clothing shop

Meet the wool producer who takes fleece from paddock to product 'in the middle of nowhere'

Post lockdown, people are not quitting knitting and Meaghan Williams meets their demand by selling homegrown, hand-dyed yarn straight from her farm in north-east Victoria.
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A woman stands in a room with wool displayed on the walls

When Cally gave working a woolshed a try, she 'just loved it'. Here's why

Seven out of 10 wool classing trainees in Australia are now women — and 21-year-old Cally Spangler is one of them. It's a trend the industry is embracing as it looks to renew its ageing workforce.
young woman tossing a fleece on the table for classing

Farmers turn to sheep that shed, as shearing shortage continues

Ageing farmers, tree changers, and fewer shearers drive the transition towards sheep that shed rather than needing to be shorn.
A pen of sheep

Meet the first students of Shearing School, a program to highlight careers in wool

A joint training program by TAFE NSW and the education department is opening pathways for high school students to learn about hard work in the shearing sheds.
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A teenage boy in a yellow/green jacket holding a sheep in a sheairng shed, Crookwell NSW, June 2023

Shoppers with a conscience driving demand for ethically farmed wool

Do you like to know where the fibre in your clothes comes from before you buy? If so, you're not alone.
young woman looking at a sheeps fleece, on the wool classing table

Tasmanian farmers cashing in on demand for ethically produced wool

Wool from this shed in Tasmania's Central Highlands goes to clothing brands, demanding producers abide by strict animal welfare and land management conditions.
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ABC News Current
Duration: 1 minute 40 seconds

Lochie is helping solve Australia's shearer shortage with staff from all walks of life

While most 26-year-old shearers are keen to clock up big tallies on the board each day, Lochie Robertson is taking a broader approach to the job.
A man holding a phone filming a video and smiling.

Wool dumped in landfill as cost of living drives demand and price down

The luxury fibre has fallen out of favour amid a global slowdown, with some producers choosing to dump lower-grade fleece instead of paying to store it.
A woolly Merino ram with horns

Wool so good in outback Queensland, this cattle king is thinking about giving sheep a go

Pastoralist George Scott has been watching how his neighbours fared with sheep and is now thinking about diversifying. A wool judge, meanwhile, has declared this season the best he's ever seen.
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Man in cowboy hat standing in front of horses

End of live trade could have 'catastrophic' consequences for wool industry

Western Australia's wool industry is worth $650 million, but growers say it will shrink rapidly if live exports are stopped.
A group of shearers shear sheep

Graziers have spoken on weather alerts — and the BOM listened

The way sheep grazier warnings are issued has been reviewed due to what many farmers consider "over-forecasting" of the risk to their livestock.
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Freshly shorn sheep walk past a brick building.

All eyes turn to sheep as facial recognition trial arrives in Australia

An artificial intelligence tool is being launched to help Australian sheep farmers identify the best breeders in their flocks. 
A camera's view of a paddock of sheep, identifying individual ewes and lambs.

What if a sheep's ear tag meant you could track your woolly jumper right back to the source?

Want to know which sheep mob your woollen clothes came from? Thanks to these new electronic sheep ear tags, you might soon be able to.
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A fleece being thrown in the air.

Sheep tag losses climb ahead of electronic monitoring mandate

An excessively high number of tag losses has farmers concerned about the true cost of the sheep industry's looming electronic tagging deadline. 
Tag shown on sheep's ear

Merino stud's 2,700-kilometre road trip pays off with sheep show success

A Victorian ram has reigned supreme at a Queensland sheep show as its owners plan more interstate honours.
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Tamaleuca ram Jimmy wearing the sash for supreme exhibit at the Queensland State Sheep Show

From fleece to fabric: Why this farming couple went to extremes to produce a keepsake for family and friends

At Australia's last remaining fully operational mill, Tassie sheep farmers Mandy and Carl Cooper had their sheep's fleece turned into beautiful family keepsakes.
A man and a woman stand between a wool bale, piled with three woollen blankets

Australia's alpaca herd size surpasses 400,000

Alpaca stud owner Erin Marsden says they have had one of their best breeding seasons on record.
ABC News Current
Duration: 43 seconds