Sheep shearers share skill set with N.L. farmers
With the art of sheep shearing in decline, local producers want to change that
In an attempt to improve their sheep-shearing skills, the Sheep Producers Association of Newfoundland and Labrador brought in two professionals for a workshop on the centuries-old tradition.
When SPANL was founded in the early 1990s it boasted a membership of about 100. However, that number has dropped to about 35 in recent years.
"A lot of people do not keep sheep anymore here," Aylward's Farm manager Brenda Aylward of Port Kerwin told CBC News.
"Everybody shears their own sheep, but … there aren't a lot of us. And you shear how you think you know, and you shear as best you can."
Aylward, the president of SPANL, calls herself a fifth-generation farmer. Like many sheep farmers in the province, she holds a day job, but she intends to focus on the farm in retirement.
She learned the skill of shearing from her father.
"We know now we weren't shearing most efficiently, as this weekend has taught us," Aylward said with a laugh.
SPANL has been brainstorming and doing strategic planning for years, quickly learning that not being able to properly shear a sheep was a big deterrent to people looking to get into sheep farming.
To change that, the organization reached out to two professionals in the field, Amber Petersen and Pauline Bolay.
Petersen, originally from Prince Edward Island, grew up on a hobby farm with a love for shearing sheep passed down from her father.
With 12 years of professional experience, Petersen has travelled across Canada and around the world working on her craft — even going as far as New Zealand to learn from the best.
"SPANL decided that they would like to bring in a couple professional shearers to help their local shearers get some tips," she said.
Petersen was joined in Newfoundland by her friend Pauline Bolay. She passed on the offer for an interview, letting her shearing skills do the talking.
Bolay became the first woman in North America to hold the world record for lamb shearing in 2019, after removing the wool from 510 lambs in eight hours during a trip to New Zealand.
According to SheepCentral.com, that record was broken earlier this year by New Zealander Sacha Bond, who sheared 601 strong wool lamb earlier this year.
Petersen said the Canadian average for shearing sheep is about 25 an hour, or just under 2½ minutes per sheep.
The pair of sheep shearers showed off proper techniques, how to hold the wool cutting shears and how to thoroughly clean them. More than 30 participants and attendees took part, their ages ranging from 11 to over 80.
"It was fun, it was hands on and extremely educational," Aylward said.
The two professionals make it look very easy, but it's not. It's incredibly hard and time-consuming.
"It's a backbreaking job, it's very difficult," Aylward said.
Following the success of the visit, the Southern Shore farmer hopes younger people will want to follow in the footsteps of Petersen and Bolay and learn to become professionals in this province.
"There are actual sharing schools, and it would be great if somebody that was in attendance would be interested in pursuing it," Aylward said.
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