With 30 years of experience in training shearers in varying environments, Izak Klopper, manager of shearer training at the National Wool Growers’ Association (NWGA), says that shearing sheds have remained productive due to the expertise shearers gain from organisations such as the NWGA, and the close relationship these organisations have with farmers.
The skill level amongst well-trained shearers in South Africa is high, and many compete in international competitions. Blade shearers have done particularly well, winning multiple titles.
Klopper says: “The South African wool industry is heavily reliant on skilled shearers, and that has remained largely unchanged.”
Aside from skilled shearing, Klopper also explains that shearing shed designs have changed significantly to accommodate both physical strain and efficiency between shearers and handlers.
In the past, many shed designs moved towards raised shearing boards to increase output by allowing staff to collect wool without getting in the way of the shearer or having to bend down.
Raised boards were implemented in both straight and half-moon layouts. However, Klopper says that raised boards have recently been subject to change due to the risk they pose for the wool handlers. (Because the sheep are at torso level with the staff collecting the fleece, there is a higher chance of injury if the sheep makes sudden movements.) Flat boards are now being reconsidered in shed design.
Another significant improvement made to prevent idle time is the pen structure. Instead of having a flock enter and exit into the same pen, causing a bottleneck between shorn and woolly sheep, the holding pens are separate from the count-out pens, creating a full cycle.
The entire shed is raised, and a count-out pen is built below it. Once a sheep is shorn, it is placed into a chute that feeds into the count-out pen, thus preventing the need for staff to herd sheep in and out.
Finally, directional slanted flooring that faces towards the gates in the catch pens has also been introduced to ease the strain of dragging the sheep onto the shearing boards.
Additionally, it prevents the sheep from getting traction and potentially injuring staff.
A shed layout named Arrow Park, published by shearing contractor Hilton Barrett and Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) in 2021, has sparked interest in the South African industry, and local sheds have now considered the feasibility of their design.
Most notably, the layout aims to decrease physical excursion by making it easier to catch and move sheep onto the shearing board. The large-scale nature of the shed demands that all aspects of the shearing process operate with maximum efficiency.
First, it includes slanted flooring in the catch pens. The flooring slants upwards and away from the gate, making catching the sheep easier.
Second, the design proposes a front-fill catch pen system where the flock will face away from the shearing board, reducing stress and making the catching process less challenging. Finally, the doors on the catch pen are slanted towards the chute so that the sheep do not have to be manoeuvred to be placed down the chute.
“I expect that some of these advancements in shed design will likely be adopted in South Africa, depending on the scale and cost of rebuilding the structure,” says Klopper.
International developments
Although shearing has an established baseline of practices, research and development, the integration of shearing with robotics and biotechnology has surfaced in Australia.
According to an AWI publication released in 2024, a new research project headed by the
University of Adelaide and funded by AWI is exploring a “bioharvesting” technique that could reshape how wool is harvested. The method involves injecting a natural maize-derived protein that temporarily weakens the base of wool fibres within the fleece. This creates a uniform weak point that reduces fibre strength, but not enough for the fleece to fall off.
Instead, it remains securely on the sheep during normal activity, because the force required to remove it is still greater than the sheep’s grazing habits.
Harvesting can take place between two and 10 weeks after treatment. The fleece can be removed with a handpiece, but researchers are considering the use of robotic assistance and vacuum systems because fleece removal in this system relies on blunt tools. The industry anticipates that a commercially viable bioharvesting system could become available by 2028, pending regulatory approval and low-cost supply of the compound.
Robotic sheep shearing has been in development since the 1970s. The University of Western Australia and the University of Technology Sydney both have robotics facilities that have been testing the feasibility of automated shearing.
By mapping a three-dimensional model of the shorn and woolly sheep, the computer is able to calculate the necessary blow technique required to harvest the wool without harming the sheep. A scoping study on semi-autonomous shearing done by the University of Technology Sydney was presented to AWI in 2018 in hopes of gaining support to fund more research and eventual production.
Both of these developments were mainly introduced to target high labour costs and labour shortages in the Australian shearing industry. Klopper says these developing technologies will likely not have a future in South Africa.
“Our labour costs are significantly lower than those of Australia or New Zealand. Although it is challenging to source skilled shearers, there is still an opportunity to train staff,” he says.
He also predicts that automated systems will need constant supervision and will carry immense input and maintenance costs.
Sustainable future
The South African wool industry has made good progress in an effort to conform to international wool quality and traceability standards. Additionally, their focus on biosecurity and animal welfare now allows for better transparency between buyers and sellers.
According to the NWGA Sustainable Biosecurity and Shearing Practices, they are now working alongside Cape Wools SA to ensure producers are up to standard according to the Sustainable Cape Wool Standard (SCWS). This has been set as a national standard, but is intended to comply with international regulations as set out by the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS).
Traceability records are a crucial part of these standards. Auditing firms such as Abelusi Wool conduct farm audits that investigate all aspects of animal welfare. RWS audits are conducted by brokers such as BKB and cover not only animal welfare, but also responsible resource utilisation and labour standards.
Klopper says: “National standards and data-driven record-keeping are important for the continuity of the wool industry, especially for exports.”
To further the connection between wool producers and buyers, Cape Wools SA hosted their first WoolCycle in 2023, which is a collaborative event that gives industry role players a platform to discuss the future of the wool industry. Cape Wools SA also announced the release of their blockchain traceability system earlier this year, which will track the origin of each bale.
The implementation of these standards gives the shearing and processing industries a standard framework that ensures the future production of high-quality wool for the export market. South African shearers can expect fair labour relations, while buyers can expect good animal welfare and transparent traceability.
