Unshorn sheep that missed their spring hair cut are suffering under the weight of their wool due to an acute shortage of shearers caused by grounded Kiwi shearers that are no longer travelling Australia because of the coronavirus pandemic.
An acute shortage of shearers is spurring animals welfare concerns as wool producers struggle to find workers.The president of Wool Producers Australia, Ed Storey, said a "crisis" was developing in remote wool growing areas like north west NSW, which struggle to attract enough shearers away from high rainfall areas in Victoria, Tasmania and eastern NSW.
Shearing was added to the critical skills workforce visa list in August, when Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said he would work with state governments on quarantine arrangements andto "ensure that regional industries like wool producers have the support they need". Wool prices have been depressed throughout the year, in part due to low international demand amid the pandemic.The national secretary of the Australian Workers' Union, Daniel Walton, said the influx of New Zealand shearers flooded the labour market at a time of peak demand and had allowed farmers to dictate conditions for local workers by "unfairly docking workers' wages for keep, travel and accommodation".
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