Justin May

30+ Years Of Shearing Sheep

G’Day! I’m Justin May

All I ever wanted to do when I was a kid was learn to shear sheep. My Dad was a shearer, My uncles were shearers and I loved sheep. So it was only natural that I would follow in the family footsteps and become a sheep shearer.

I have always shown farmers How to Shear Their Own Sheep….

My Dad taught me the basics of sheep shearing in 1988 when I was just 16. One of my earliest childhood memories is playing in the wool with my brothers and sister at shearing time. The smell of wool always brings me very fond thoughts of my childhood.

Before starting out as fulltime shearer, I decided to go to TAFE college and get my Wool Classing Certificate in 1989. This gave me a wonderful appreciation for wool and how to present it properly for the manufacturers to get the best out of the wool to make the finest clothes in the world.

During my year at TAFE I learnt the fundamentals of sheep shearing from my life long mentor Stan Kingham. These skills have stayed with me all my life and I still use them today.

I was always looking to better my skills as a shearer so I did several advanced shearing courses. The Australian Wool Institute (AWI) were running advanced shearing school all the time. I did two of these shearing schools one at Gunnedah NSW in 1994, the other at Adaminaby on the Monaro in NSW in 1995. In 1998 I attended a British Wool Board run advanced shearing course in Norfolk, England. The shearing courses helped me out immensely, as the Australian course was shearing merino sheep and English shearing course was shearing British breed sheep.

Coming from a farming background myself, I had plenty in common with the farmers, of whom I was shearing for. I found many farmers were interested in Shearing or Crutching their own sheep but few ever had a chance to learn properly. I was only too happy to show those who were willing to learn the basics of shearing so they could at least comfortably shear their own sheep without hurting their sheep or themselves.

This passing on of shearing knowledge to farmers has lead me to create “The Shearers Post”, where you can find articles on shearing, youtube videos on tips and tricks to get your shearing on track and a podcast of many wool and shearing industry icons, legends and larakins. Thankyou for visiting The Shearers Post. I hope you find our site informative, educational and fun. Happy Shearing!