Morawa shearing students benefit from industry experts

Wheatbelt agricultural students have been getting a handle on wool harvesting with support from industry experts.

The WA College of Agriculture Morawa shearing school benefitted during a recent training session from qualified professionals, farm technical officer Bradley Barbuto, shearing instructor Todd Wegner and parent shearer Marty Grant.

The trio visited the college to share their knowledge of the trade with some practical hands-on applications.

Eneabba sheep farmer and WA Wool Training Advisory Group Committee chairman Chris Patmore also got to see the shearing school in action first hand.

Mr Patmore said the shearing school was run under the Department of Education and he was interested to see how it functioned, in comparison to other schools.

“The college training is not run under the WoolTAG,” he said.

“I went along to see how they are run and if there’s any potential interest from Year 11-12 students to apply for a WoolTAG shearer novice training course once they finished school.

“Because they are voluntarily participating in the shearing course it showed that they are keen to some extent.”

Mr Patmore said the students would be invited to apply for a position in a WoolTAG course, but due to the number of applicants they would be selected on their merit.

At the WA College of Agriculture Morawa all students learn the core underlying principles of shearing that they can use to develop an efficient shearing style suited to them.

Work ethic, teamwork and following instructions are the cornerstones of the course.

Instructors are rewarded when they pass on skills to the students, watching them evolve and their confidence grow.

Australian Wool Innovation funds a percentage of the college courses.