A shining start to a shearing career
With a family background in wool harvesting, twenty-year-old Grace Schoff from Chinchilla in Queensland began her first shearing job as soon as she left school. She loves her work and taking part in competitions and says shearing is a great career.
Grace hard at work in the shed.
With a family background in wool harvesting, twenty-year-old Grace Schoff from Chinchilla in Queensland began her first shearing job as soon as she left school. She loves her work and taking part in competitions and says shearing is a great career.
“If you have got the heart and the willingness to continue learning and improving every day, shearing is a great career,” says Grace Schoff, who started her first shearing job in November 2018 as soon as she left school.
“The whole first year I shore, I’d pull up at least five minutes before the end of every run so I could watch each of the other shearers to see if I could learn something new. I found you can always discover something different from every shearer. And if you’re genuinely interested, they are more than happy to show you a few tricks they’ve picked up over the years.”
Grace comes from a family where working in shearing sheds runs in the family. Her father, Phil, has been shearing since he was a teenager; her mother, Michelle, has been in the sheds most of her life too, wool handling and classing; and her older brother Alexander (known as Slim) has represented Queensland in the open wool handling at the Nationals.
Before the family moved to Queensland, when Grace was aged about ten, they had a sheep station at Cobar in central western NSW so Grace has been involved in sheep for most of her life.
“I was very keen to learn about shearing from the age of 13. I was always pestering my dad with questions and he patiently took the time to teach me quite a bit about how to shear. I also went to a shearing school at Willalooka in South Australia which was helpful,” Grace said.
“After leaving school about 2½ years ago, I managed to go straight into shearing. Mark ‘Crackers’ Buscumb of Crackers Contracting gave me a chance for which I am very grateful.
“I love the atmosphere in the shearing shed. When you get in a team with people who enjoy their job and love having a laugh it makes the day go way too fast. It’s a great way to meet new people from all over the country and I love the challenges that come with the job.”
Grace being presented as the winner of the Under 21 shearing competition at Wagin Woolorama in March by Greg Drew of the WA Competition Shearing Association. PHOTO: Sarah Munns
Grace has travelled the country with her work which she enjoys, but she encourages woolgrowers to make sure their accommodation and facilities are up to standard.
“Unfortunately, there are quite a few quarters that have been allowed to deteriorate, some quite badly. Sometimes woolgrowers don’t understand that some workers in the industry basically live at shearing quarters as they travel interstate to find work, so constantly going from one rundown show to the next is a little discouraging.”
Grace has just got back from shearing in WA. Conscious of needing to look after her body, she is going to take a short break from shearing to give herself a rest before she gets back in full swing.
While in WA, Grace won the Under 21 shearing competition at Wagin Woolorama, one the few competitions that have been held in the past 12 months due to COVID-related restrictions. Grace has been taking part in competitions pretty much since she learnt to shear, with her highlight being representing Queensland in the novice division at the National Championships in Perth in 2018.
“Dad does competitions and has represented Queensland, so seeing him compete made me want to get involved. As I went to more competitions, I met heaps of amazing shearers.
“I love meeting new people and making new mates that have the same interests and are passionate about what they do. It also allows you to watch how other people shear at a competition level, and of course it’s good to catch up with mates.
“When I was younger and still in school, I only ever saw women compete in the wool handling, but in the past couple of years I’ve seen more women compete in the shearing. I’ve worked with a few female shearers too, and they are all extremely talented and wonderful women. Having more women becoming shearers is wonderful to see.”
