The more I dig into the wool industry, the more it feels like it’s just one huge family run business. You will be hard pressed to find someone working in wool that doesn’t have a family tie to it somewhere. Caleb Morgan falls comfortably into that family genre and his ties run for four generations. The story of wool before Caleb is a long one. His Grandad and Great Papa were both shearers and woolgrowers, mum was a woolhandler and dad is a shearing contractor. It is quite fitting that Caleb … [Read more...]
Crutching Trailers
Crutching trailers are well known across Australia for making a repetitive and laborious job, just that little bit easier. A mobile plant that has been used in the far reaches of rural Australia, it goes wherever sheep need to be crutched. Parked near a set of yards, the sheep are first brought in from their paddocks and wait to be moved up the line for their turn on the trailer. Helped along by a penner-up-er and their trusty sidekicks, it is a full action, non stop … [Read more...]
Aaaand We’re Back
Do you remember when I attempted to travel right across Australia on a (largely) self funded road trip for my Truth About Wool campaign? I could never forget. It was some of the most fulfilling, challenging and liberating days of my personal and professional life. I miss it. When I first started out on my cross country campaign I was incredibly ambitious in the thought that I could cover the entire wool industry and tell it’s full story in around six months. Financial strain took it’s toll … [Read more...]
SEVEN
Every now and then a big personality is born on a farm. Seven is one of them. Born in 2016 as part of a set of triplets, Seven was met with the big wet that had hit his home of ‘Aloeburn’, Boree Creek. Very few paddocks remained safe from flood waters for the lambing ewes and his farmers, Jodie and Andrew Green had some tough decisions to make for the wellbeing of their flock. Both Seven and his brother were adopted by Jodie and Andrew, giving their sister a more promising start at life. The … [Read more...]
MERINO COUNTRY
It was the nineties and the Queensland wool industry was struggling through drought and low wool prices. Searching through stores for Australian wool everyday wear, would have you coming home empty handed. It was a quiet time for Queensland wool, but something was stirring inside of Kerrie Richards. These hard times was the fuel that ignited her idea for merino wool clothing line, ‘Merino Country’. With next to zero traceability of an Australian wool clip from farm to fibre and a lack of … [Read more...]
TAMBO TEDDIES
Tambo is the oldest town in Western Queensland with a history overflowing with wool and sheep. Once buzzing with shearing teams and huge sheep properties, wild dogs, drought and the wool price crash have forced most woolgrowers to either sell up, or go into cattle. While most have long forgotten the wool industry in the district, there is a business nestled in the main street of town still keeping locals employed in the wool industry and boosting the local economy. Tambo Teddies is a hot … [Read more...]
THE STEWARTS
It’s all hands on deck for the Stewart family when shearing time rolls around at ‘Riverview’ Evandale TAS. The kids get a day off school and kept busy in their one stand shed. The shearing shed is an extension built off the side of their storage shed and works a treat. Everyone is assigned their own jobs and although only lasting a day, shearing is the highlight of their farming year. Summer, 11, keeps herself busy stamping butts, skirting fleeces and sweeping the board. ‘I love jumping in … [Read more...]
MOLLY CORNISH
Molly Cornish will make you want to get out there and grab life by the horns, or wool for that matter. I caught up with Molly at her dad’s farm, ‘Crenmore’, at Oatlands, Tasmania. In the freezing cold temps she graciously braved them for me to get a few shots and humbly told me about her life, loves and what she’s got in store for the future. When most little girls hit their 12th birthday, planning for their future and laying down foundations for their career path goes as far as declaring … [Read more...]
THE BIG DRY
(Image - 'Cambo', Mungindi NSW) The big dry. There’s a lot of things you can regulate, influence and change as a woolgrower. But the rain ain’t one of them. Working across Southern and Outback Queensland for most of my working year in the woolsheds, I experience the highs and lows of the seasons alongside the woolgrowers who I class for. Some days work is called off because not even my 4wd can navigate their black soil driveways to start work. But when the big dry rears its ugly head, there is … [Read more...]
MIA
Meet Mia. Cute isn’t she? Don’t tell her that though. She’s a working girl, dedicating her life to penning up, guarding her ute and collecting bones. Starting her life in Hay, NSW, Mia moved in with her family in southern Qld when she was still soft and cuddly. Destined for a life in the woolsheds with her shearer dad and woolclasser mum, there’s hardly been a time in her 6 years that she hasn’t been around sheep. Starting in her shearing team at the bottom of the ranks, she was taken under … [Read more...]
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