66 | The higher the wool price, the more work Most of Leith Shearing’s shearers and woolhandlers are Southlanders, but every main-shear sees an influx of British and Irish shearers. Growing up on a sheep farm near Dipton, Andrew was no stranger to the shearing shed, and he went from school into a crutching gang. Hugh de Lacy The price Southland farmers get for their strongwool directly affects the volume of work that partners Andrew Leith and Jess Baxter get for their Lumsden-based Leith Shearing Ltd business, and the $1/kg jump has pumped a bit of optimism into both industries, Andrew says. Leith Shearing, with a fleet of vans and towed wool-presses and a staff of around 40, services northern, central and eastern Southland. Nearly all its clients farm strongwool (more than 24 microns), “and quite simply the higher the wool price the more work we get,” he says. “Farmers are a bit more positive since the price jumped about a dollar to $4.50/kg over the past year, and for shearing contractors that translates to more farmers wanting to shear more sheep. “We notice it first in the number of lambs we shear during main-shear, December to March: when the wool price is up farmers shear more or all of their lambs. “Hogget shearing is also affected: some farmers opt to skip hogget shearing in late spring and shear them full-wool with the ewes, which also impacts our second-shear in March/April. “But the number of lambs we shear a year isn’t the only impact the wool price has on shearing contractors: when prices were lower we saw farmers who had shorn their flocks twice a year, and some who were on eight-month shearing, switch to annual full-wool shearing. “Sheep have to be shorn at least annually for their own survival, but there’s nothing in it for the farmers when the returns for the wool don’t cover, or barely cover the cost of shearing.” While the strongwool price is still not great, Andrew says it has given enough of a lift for some farmers to return to six-months and lamb shearing. Growing up on a sheep farm near Dipton, Andrew was no stranger to the shearing shed, and he went from school into a crutching gang that did some seasonal shearing, and in 2022 he and Jess bought Palmer Brothers Shearing and expanded it into a year-round service. Most of Leith Shearing’s shearers and woolhandlers are Southlanders, but every main-shear sees an influx of British and Irish shearers, globetrotters who chase the sheep all round the world. Jess and Andrew don’t as yet provide accommodation for their migrant staff, though Andrew is able to arrange accommodation at local pubs as necessary. However, future investment in an accommodation and camping property is in the plans. Staff are transported to and from the sheds in a fleet of mostly Toyota Hi-Ace vans, to which a new one was added in preparation for the 2025-2026 main-shear. Another recently acquired asset is a commercial set-up for trained chef Jess - who doesn’t get a day out of the kitchen during main-shear - to prepare RURAL SERVICES » Leith Shearing Ltd healthy and nutritious lunches and smokos for the entire staff. While seasonal peak demands are intensely busy, Jess and Andrew have plenty of time in the off-season to share with their two young boys, Ted and Walker. “Sheep have to be shorn at least annually for their own survival, but there’s nothing in it for the farmers when the returns for the wool don’t cover, or barely cover the cost of shearing.”
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