She's shear class!
The rise and rise of top-class female shearers is a growing phenomenon in NZ – especially during recent times.
Stephen Siemonek is in charge of getting 3500 of the right sheep on stage at the right time, a job he’s been doing for 20 years.
He was brought up on a farm, getting involved in Golden Shears through Young Farmers, and when he got too old for young farmers he got a call to ask if he’d manage the yards.
“This means I have to make sure the right sheep are picked up from the right properties and brought in here. Then, when they are shorn, they have to be delivered back to the right farm,” Siemonek told Rural News.
“It’s quite a challenge, but you get used to it. The sheep come from different farms – the Merinos come from Ranfurly in the South Island, the Corriedales from Taihape. The rest of the sheep come straight from local farms. Generally those are here only for an hour or so and then back to the farm.”
The only exception is long-wool sheep, about 700 of them. These come from a property on the Wairarapa coast, trucked in and kept in a shed until they are needed at various stages of the competition. Siemonek says this saves having to truck small numbers of sheep back and forth over a long distance.
Siemonek says the yards have run smoothly during his time at the Golden Shears. He recalls only one incident, in his Young Farmer days, when he had to chase and catch sheep that got out and headed into nearby Queen Elizabeth Park.
