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.
"I'm hearing that some people are a month or two behind in their shearing and that can be critical for both animal welfare and production," Mr Storey said.Unshorn sheep can suffer from fleece rot, a precursor to fly strike which causes suffering and death. The flight never eventuated and it now appears unlikely New Zealand shearers will travel to Australia any time soon, despite the creation in August of a one-way safe travel zone that allows New Zealanders to enter Australia quarantine-free after a negative COVID test.
If producer claims about wanting to employ more Australians were genuine "they'd stop using New Zealanders to flood the industry and start paying proper wages", he said.
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