Golden Shears feature 2023

GOLDEN SHEARS 2023

WORLD PREMIER SHEARING AND WOOLHANDLING

Shear magic Golden Shears at

“It’s an honour to be the President of Golden Shears,” says Sam Saunders. “I stand on the shoulders of past presidents and alongside teams of dedicated volunteers and the amazing sponsors - all of whom make the magic of Golden Shears possible.”

Right from the inaugural Golden Shears in 1961, “this event has been something special”, Sam says.

A group of young farmers and representatives of Federated Farmers ÿ rst raised the idea of Golden Shears in 1958. Sam says: “Some people doubted shearers or audience members would come, and certainly not anyone from outside the district. I remember my parents talking

about it. Well, four hundred shearers turned up from all round the country and the army was called in to help with audience crowd control.”

In 2023, Golden Shears expects to welcome 1,200 audience members each day, the stadium’s capacity, and at least 340 competitors. “The atmosphere at Golden Shears is amazing,” Sam says. “There’s nothing else like it.

“Golden Shears, Masterton, is the centre of the shearing world, involved in the creation of a World Council and giving its name to World Shearing and Wool Handling Championships held every few years including in France in 2019 and Edinburgh in 2023.”

As well as bringing our community, the country, and the world together through

shearing and the wool industry, Golden Shears brings millions of dollars into the Wairarapa region every time it is held, and even more when a World Championship is going on. Masterton hosted the ÿ rst World Championship in 1980, as well as those held in 1988, 1996, and 2012.

Sam has all the qualiÿ cations for being President of Golden Shears, although he says he’s just “° oated to the top of the bucket”. He grew up on a farm, remains a Wairarapa farmer, and has volunteered with Golden

Iwi representatives of Kahungunu whānau

Shears for nearly 50 years. Sam’s also shorn his way around the world.

Shearing is now the domain of elite athletes who do the circuit of competitions around New Zealand to get ÿ t and ready for Golden Shears, Masterton.

“The Golden Shears volunteers and sponsors are excited to be back in 2023 after two years of cancellations due to Covid. We’ve prepared for any contingency and will go ahead rain or shine. There’s even a generator on standby in case we lose power!”

Kahungunu ki Wairarapa representative says the Shearing and Woolhandling Industry is an industry that so many of our m˜ori wh˜nau are involved in, the Golden Shears provides an opportunity to promote the highly skilled wool handling and shearing participates and showcase Wairarapa.

Ng˜ti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated were sponsors to the 2020 Golden Shears, this was the ÿ rst time Kahungunu sponsored an event within the Golden Shears and Kahungunu ki Wairarapa are extremely proud to be provided the opportunity to sponsor two events in the 2023 Golden Shears.

KAHUNGUNU KI WAIRARAPA

187 - 189, Kuini Tiriti, Whakaoriori (tari i muri)

Nama waea 06 377 5436

Melissa Ihaka

THURSDAY 2 MARCH 2023

FRIDAY 3 MARCH 2023

Morning from 7.45am

• Open Wool Handling heats.

Wool Pressing:

• Men’s singles semi-ÿ nal.

• Women’s FINAL.

• Men’s Singles FINAL.

• Senior Shearing heats.

• Open Wool Handling quarter ÿ nal.

Afternoon from about 12.40pm

• Intermediate Shearing semi-ÿ nal.

• Junior Shearing FINAL. • Open Shearing heats.

from about 6.45pm • Wool Pressing Pairs FINAL.

SATURDAY 4 MARCH 2023

Morning from 7.45am

• Junior Wool Handling semi-ÿ nal.

• Senior Wool Handling semi-ÿ nal.

• Young Farmers Teams Shearing and Wool Handling FINAL.

• World qualifying Wool Handling semi-ÿ nal.

• Young Farmers Blue Ribbon Shearing FINAL.

• Senior Shearing semi-ÿ nal.

• National Shearing Circuit semi-ÿ nal.

Afternoon from 12.40pm

• Junior Wool Handling FINAL.

• Senior Wool Handling FINAL.

• NIWC Wool Handling FINAL.

• M°ori/Pakeha Teams Shearing.

• Intermediate Shearing FINAL.

• Senior Shearing FINAL.

• Open Wool Handling semi-ÿ nal.

• Open Shearing semi-ÿ nal.

Evening from 6.15pm

• National Shearing Circuit FINAL.

• World Qualifying Wool Handling FINAL.

• Trans-Tasman Shearing Test.

• Open Wool Handling FINAL.

• Open Shearing FINAL.

GOLDEN SHEARS 2023

WORLD PREMIER SHEARING AND WOOLHANDLING

New Zealand shearing down the ages

Shearing in New Zealand started in the 1800s with the earliest shearers coming over from Australia. They travelled from job to job and were generally thought of as “hard-drinking, foul-mouthed scoundrels”. They were all blokes, usually dressed in black singlets, thick trousers and moccasins cut from a wool bale. Today, New Zealand shearers are among the fastest in the world and are considered elite athletes with their high level of ÿ tness and well-toned muscles from the hard, physical labour – and that applies to both the men and the increasing number of women shearers.

Regular shearing is an important way to maintain the health of sheep. Without it, they can develop a nasty and debilitating infection called ° ystrike. At least once each year, the entire herd of sheep is brought to the shed to be shorn.

In the early days, shearing used to take place out on the farm but, by the 1870s, sheds were commonly used and helped to streamline the shearing process. Shearers were the most important people in the shed. Fast shearers were called ‘guns’ and the fastest of all was

the ‘ringer’ or (with the type of respect given to a maÿ a boss), the ‘don’.

Young M˛ori were quick to make their mark as shearers. Robert T˝taki, from Hawke’s Bay, was a gun shearer and a Shearers’ Union organiser in the 1920s. He was one of the ÿ rst to receive the rare Wolseley Medal, presented to shearers who exceeded 330 sheep in a day using Wolseley shearing equipment. Sonny

White and Johnny Hape were other M˛ori who acquired legendary status for their shearing skills and ‘tallies’ (the number of sheep shorn).

The Bowen brothers (Ivan and Godfrey) dominated shearing competitions around the country including Golden Shears right from its 1961 inception.

Today, shearing gangs with four or more shearers tend to

be contracted out to farmers. Electric shearing machines are used today, replacing machines invented in about 1885 that ran on steam and, even earlier, blades that were a bit like large scissors. Electric shearing machines are faster and get more wool o˙ each sheep compared with blades.

Material sourced from: Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Wairarapa College is proud to be educating the next generation. Our renowned Agriculture Department is led by a team of passionate educators and mentors and is equipped with some of the best facilities for secondary agricultural learning in the country.

The inclusive programme welcomes students from a wide range of backgrounds to explore a career in farming.

1961 lineup from left: Mac Potae (Hawke’s Bay, 4th), Bing McDonald (Te Mata, 3rd), Ian Harrison (Southland, 6th), Ivan Bowen (Te Puke, 1st), Kevin Sarre (Australia, 5th), Godfrey Bowen (Levin, 2nd)

Voice of the Shears

GOLDEN SHEARS 2023

WORLD PREMIER SHEARING AND WOOLHANDLING

Even with 30 years under his belt in the shearing industry, Tuma Mullins still gets goosebumps when he’s invited to commentate at Golden Shears.

“It’s the biggest shearing show in the world.”

This year, Tuma is the lead commentator of a team of six as well as the MC. He’s putting on his game face and warming up his voice. The job doesn’t just involve quick talking, it also includes quick thinking.

“Ad-libbing as events unfold takes total concentration,” Tuma says.

“I’ve learned from listening to commentators at WWE events (wrestling) - they are entertaining and electrifying.”

Commentators generally describe and analyse the action, provide colour, and add anecdotes and insights.

“The aim is to keep the crowd in the moment and on the edge of their seats.”

Golden Shears is in Tuma’s DNA. His mother Mavis was president a few years back and is still involved in Golden Shears as a live streaming presenter. His father, Koro Mullins, was Tuma’s inspiration as a commentator until his death just over three years ago.

“Dad had this catch cry ‘who’s your daddy’ whenever a shearer was doing well.”

˜ e aim is to keep the crowd in the moment and on the edge of their seats.

Tuma will be channelling his father this year as a polished and knowledgeable pro.

Brought up on a farm, Tuma was shearing in Golden Shears by age 18. He came second in the Junior Finals aged 19. That same year, his father made the Open Finals and Mavis won the Open Wool Handling title.

The family owns the shearing company Paewai Mullins

Shearing and “with my kids and my sister Aria’s kids involved, we’ve now had ÿ ve generations involved in the company”, Tuma says.

Two years ago, Tuma did his back in and had to stop shearing. A career in real estate with PGG Wrightson took o˛ instead, focusing on lifestyle and rural properties. Luckily, his voice hasn’t been a˛ ected.

“I’m really looking forward to Golden Shears this year,” he says.

“After two years of cancellations, we’re expecting a bumper number of entries. The borders are open, and the international workforce is ready to compete. It’s fair to say shearing is on the boil.”

Asked who he’s got his eye on as he follows local competitions leading up to Golden Shears, Tuma says “Gavin Much is in the hunt, then there’s Rowland Smith, and John Kirkpatrick, both of whom are looking good. And Toa Henderson from Kaiwaka has well and truly got the goods too! It’s anybody’s title to win.”

edge

In the 1950s wool was New Zealand’s chief commodity with about 428 million lbs exported to other countries at a value of nearly £100 million. Over 40 percent of the wool was bound for European countries, particularly the UK.

It was also in the 1950s that our Wool Board established a shearer training scheme. Godfrey Bowen - who set a 1953 world shearing record (later trumped by his brother Ivan) - was appointed by the Wool Board as its chief shearing instructor and, together with Ivan, revolutionised the global wool industry through an improved shearing method - the ‘Bowen Technique’. This involved using the non-shearing hand to stretch out the skin on the sheep to produce a more evenly shorn ˜ eece “from the breezer to the sneezer”. The better-quality eeces attracted higher prices, making everyone happy. Shearers are generally paid per sheep, introducing an incentive to shear as many as possible

in as short a time as possible, and so shearing competitions became popular. Although about 20 competitions were held each year around the country, the ÿ rst Golden Shears competition in Masterton in 1961 was so successful it rapidly assumed the mantle of New Zealand’s major shearing competition - a status it still enjoys today.

In 1968, competitors from the Golden Shears Championships established the ÿ rst rules for shearing record attempts. By 2004, these rules had transformed into the World Sheep Shearing Records Society Inc., administered in New Zealand, and recognised as a standalone governing body for world sheep shearing records.

According to the registers of the World Sheep Shearing Records Society, the mighty men and women shearers of New Zealand are punching above their weight, with:

Kerri Jo Te Huia holding the nine-hour solo record for

strong wool ewes (women) with 452 ewes (2018).

• Megan Whitehead holding the nine-hour solo record for strong wool lambs (women) with 661 lambs (2021).

• Grant Smith holding the nine-hour solo record for merino wethers with 418 wethers (1999).

• Pauline Bolay holding the eight-hour solo record for strong wool lambs (women) with 510 lambs (2019).

• Jack Fagan just setting the eight-hour solo record for strong wool lambs with 754 lambs (December 2022).

Beneÿ ts of participating in the Golden Shears include the opportunity to swap ideas with other shearers and become expert in di˛ erent sheep breeds and wool types.

Material sourced from: Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of New Zealand; Golden Shears, Masterton; NZ O˜ cial Yearbook 1958.

GOLDEN SHEARS

2023

50 Years of Volunteering: Honouring Bruce Caseley and Bill Hutchings

WORLD PREMIER SHEARING AND WOOLHANDLING

Bruce Caseley and Bill Hutchings began volunteering at Golden Shears as keen members of a local Young Farmers Club. The year was 1971. They’ve hardly missed a year since.

Golden Shears will honour these stalwarts in a ceremony on Saturday night, awarding them badges for 50 Years of Golden Shears volunteering.

“A lot of our volunteers have come from the Young Farmers Clubs,” Bill says. The age of retirement from the Clubs is 30, but Bruce and Bill did not let that get in the way of their volunteering at Golden Shears. They carried on.

“There’s nothing like the Golden

Shears,” says Bruce, who was brought up on a farm, has worked in farming since the early 1990s, and tutored for eight years at Taratahi.

He’s also sold and managed life insurance, worked for the Wairarapa Times-Age selling rural advertising, and spent half of every year for about a decade driving trucks in Texas for silage harvest.

“I’m retired now,” he says.

“We started out at Golden Shears tipping sheep,” Bruce says.

‘Tipping’ involves “turning the sheep once they’re shorn, so the Judge can assess the quality of the shearing”.

Bill grew up on a dairy farm, spent seven years milking cows, before going on to work for

an impressive 44 years for the government, testing Wairarapa’s cattle for nasties like TB and Brucellosis.

As well as tipping sheep for Golden Shears, Bruce and Bill have registered entrants, calculated shearing points (with a team of six) before points for the shearing were computerised, calculated points for wool pressing and wool handling events, been committee members, been

treasurer, run the yards, edited the programme, worked the bar, and helping to crutch the sheep before they go to the Golden Shears to be shorn. Whew!

“Presenting the sheep in good shape gives the competitors a good chance to perform well,” Bruce says.

Bill and Bruce both stay for the entire Golden Shears from start to ÿ nish. “It gets into your blood. You’ve got to stay to watch the open ÿ nal.”

They get involved for the pleasure, the people, and the buzz. They have some good stories, too. Bruce and Bill can remember years when foreign exchange students came together at Golden Shears to shear in the novice heats and to have a jolly good time. “They’d never come across anything like it.”

Bruce recalls being out the back in the sheep pens in the early days.

“We didn’t have the steel shed up then, so we erected a marque over the sheep. A big wind came up and lifted the whole damn thing o° its middle pole. As the pole fell, its spike tore the canvas. One of the chaps ran round to Wrightson’s Grain Store, as it was known then, and fetched a bag-sewer. Two of us held up a long ladder and up he went to sew up the rip in the tent.” Bruce chuckles at the memory.

“That was a true Heath Robinson moment.”

The Golden Shears is made possible by the volunteers, many of whom, including Bill and Bruce in previous years, take annual leave from work so they can help. Raise a glass to the impressive Golden Shears volunteers, with particular respect for this year’s recipients of 50 Years of volunteering badges.

Bruce Caseley and Bill Hutchings

The Golden Shears is made possible by the volunteers

and the wool

Women have always been there at Golden Shears.

For starters, there were the Miss Golden Shears competitions (1971 to 1988) as well as the Golden Shears Fashion Design Awards that ran until 1999.

Inspirational women in power have had a passing involvement too.

In 1963, Queen Elizabeth II visited New Zealand. She couldn’t come to Golden Shears, so Golden Shears went to her. About 500 Golden Shears supporters descended on Fraser Park in Lower Hutt to watch Alan Williamson receiving a Golden Shears award from the Queen.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern handed out awards at the 60th Golden Shears anniversary in 2020.

Mavis Mullins was president of Golden Shears one year. And women have volunteered in droves, right from the ÿ rst Golden Shears in 1961.

As the years go by, an increasing number of women shearers, wool pressers and wool handlers also compete in Golden Shears. One of these is Cushla Abraham.

“I was born and bred in Wairarapa and have worked alongside my dad, shearer Nuki Gordon, since I was about ÿ ve years old. I haven’t missed a Golden Shears since I was small, even taking time o° school back then so I could be part of things.”

A few years ago, Cushla and husband Paerata set up Shedtalk on Facebook, live streaming anything to do with the shearing industry.

This helps bring it all closer to home and allows us to watch competitions from the couch. “Watch shearer Amy Silcock’s attempt to break Marie Prebble’s eight-hour solo women’s world record of 370 ewes, falling shy by only 22 ewes. It’s great watching,” Cushla says. Winning the New Zealand

Merino Shears Open Wool Handling competition in Alexandra in 2022 qualiÿ ed Cushla as a member of the New Zealand Wool Handling Team.

They went on to also win at the November 2022 Trans-Tasman competition in Bendigo.

As well as winning wool handling competitions, Cushla and Paerata juggle two children and run their contracting business Abraham Shearing.

It’s a family a° air: “Four of my siblings work alongside us as

part of the team of 10 shearers and 12 shed sta° .”

Cushla is a Golden Shears committee member and will be competing in the wool handling events this year.

Unsurprisingly, Cushla sends heartfelt thanks to another woman, her mother Marie Gordon.

“Mum is the backbone of everything our family does. Without her support Paerata and I couldn’t do any of it.”

Cushla Abraham.

Photo by Barbara Newton

Herding with a fair eye

2023 is Ken MacPherson’s 24th year as chief sheep sorter for Golden Shears. He’s also chair of its shearing committee.

Leading up to Golden Shears, Ken’s first job is to source approximately 3,500 lambs and sheep: the number required for the shearing and wool handling events. He casts his eye over them all, if he can.

Then the sheep all need to be crutched to remove dags: “it makes for a more even competition for the shearers”. Ken oversees logistics like trucking the appropriate sheep into the competition on the day they’re needed, and grades sheep for each event so their size and wool type are as similar as possible.

“It’s all about fairness. You’ve either got an eye for it or you haven’t.”

Despite what we might think, “no two sheep are alike,” Ken explains, “so the job is not straightforward.”

Ken says his nearly 35 years managing farms in the Wairarapa and many years playing rugby locally have been instrumental in getting to know farmers willing to provide sheep for Golden Shears.

Local farms supply Golden Shears with most of the sheep needed. Over 100 Merinos are also trucked up from the South Island.

“It’s a lot of work for the farmers,” Ken says, “and they also contribute to the cost of trucking the sheep. There wouldn’t be a Golden Shears without the farmers, their commitment, and their sheep.”

Once the sheep arrive at the competition, they’re kept on the truck until just before they’re needed, to keep them warm and settled. “Cold sheep are no good to shear.”

For the Open Final on Saturday night in which each of the six finalists get to shear 20 sheep, Ken sets aside sheep with the highest quality of wool –“Romneys are the best”.

Breeds that might be used for other events include Coopworth, Texel cross, Cheviot and Corriedale (a Romney-Merino cross).

Ken started out in his early 20s as a shearer before becoming a farm manager, and now runs his own lifestyle block shearing and crutching business.

“I love shearing. It’s like a bug – it’s addictive. It’s great exercise and you get to meet so many great people.”

He hasn’t missed Golden Shears since he was about the age of 14.

“It’s a privilege to be involved.”

Which shearer should we be watching at this year’s Golden Shears?

“I reckon Rowland Smith’s the one to beat.”

Music with a cheeky twist

The M˜ori Sidesteps is a contemporary M˜ori showband based in Wellington. From their ÿ rst gig in 2016, Jamie McCaskill, Regan Taylor, Cohen Holloway, and Erroll Anderson have entertained audiences up and down the country with their cheeky theatrical presentation of song parodies and subversive messaging –taking their inspiration from the M˜ori Showbands of the 60s, 70s and 80s such as the Howard Morrison Quartet and the Hi Marks.

Founding band member, Jamie McCaskill, describes the band as "an evolution of the M˜ori Showband, bringing the harmonies and cheekiness of those days into the 2020s".

During a national tour, The M˜ori Sidesteps were last seen in Wairarapa in 2019 at the Carterton Events Centre.

"We've had lots of messages from fans in Wairarapa asking us to come back, so we're stoked we get to play at the Golden

Shears in Masterton," said McCaskill.

One audience member at a recent performance described The M˜ori Sidesteps as "a very entertaining performance

of M˜ori history, comedy, impersonations, and singing that went from classic pop, to waiata, to Sinatra, to kiwi rock, to opera and lots more! All seamlessly delivered with an

impish sense of humour”. With rave reviews, hit web, and TV series, these fabulous performers will deliver your favourite songs with mischievous and hilarious twists.

WORLD PREMIER SHEARING AND WOOLHANDLING

Lots of fun with the Shenanigans

Fresh from a triumphant evening of music at Wairarapa’s Music in the Country Festival, the premier Irish band Shenanigans is keen for another performance in the region on March 4 this year.

The band members - Justin, Jane, Maurice, and Paul - love entertaining their audience with high energy, funny, and toetapping fiddling, and hilarious banter.

Watch out for traditional Irish songs such as Whiskey in the Jar, various Pogue’s’ numbers, and Van Morrison’s Moondance. Then there’s all those other songs done with an Irish style. You might get to hear numbers from Rolling Stones, Kenny Rogers, Don McLean, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Crowded House, and many more.

Justin became a Shenanigan about twenty years ago after seeing an ad in the newspaper for a musician and singer for a

Celtic band. Justin travelled to Wellington, struggled 100 steps down to a seedy flat carrying his guitars, mandolins, and other instruments, and was told on sight he’d got the job because of his enthusiasm, effort, and authentic Irish accent.

From Palmerston North, Justin’s forebears hail from Scotland and Poland. His Polish ancestors immigrated to New Zealand, settling in Pahiatua. He’s lead guitar and singer for the Shenanigans, along with mandolin, Irish whistle, and ukulele (he describes his singing

as a cross between Elvis and a lark).

Fiddler extraordinaire Jane originally heralded from Taranaki but, with Irish greatgrandmothers on both sides of her family, she can actually claim Irish heritage. She’s been playing fiddle for 28 years now.

Feven

Justin and Jane used to live in Wairarapa before the siren call of musical opportunities drove them over the hill and into the Hutt.

Drummer Maurice is world famous in Eketahuna and is recognised when he stops for a pie. He’s originally from Guernsey in the UK but has been adopted by Eketahuna since playing in its town hall for a primary school fundraiser. He even owns a tee-shirt with the name of the town on it.

Bass player Paul from Dunedin is a former member of OdESSA with many #1 hits in the charts. OdESSA “blends electrifying grooves and phenomenal energy and kicks along the dusty centreline where Rock 'n' Roll and R 'n' B first cross-mutated”. Justin says Paul is a highly skilled “monster musician”.

Expect to experience an evening of unadulterated fun with lots of Shenanigans.

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GOLDEN SHEARS 2023

WORLD PREMIER SHEARING AND WOOLHANDLING CHAMPIONSHIP

Living o˜ the sheep’s back

Sam Saunders, President of Golden Shears, remembers that 70 or even 80 percent of his dad’s income on the farm came from wool.

“It’s a bit di˜ erent today.”

From the early days of Europeans in New Zealand, sheep symbolised our country. They were the backbone of an economy centred on meat and wool exports. Shearing became an integral part of that economy and a way of life for many men who ÿ rst earned their stripes at home and then travelled the world, taking New Zealand’s advanced shearing techniques with them.

“It was the early 1970s,” Sam reminisces. “I was in the UK preparing to travel to Libya to shear when war broke out. I ˛ ew to New York, instead, and

bottom of Argentina.”

That’s just one of Sam’s adventures. He spent years travelling the world, paying his way by shearing and sending money home too. “You could make big money shearing then - you still can.”

He remembers Falkland shearers watching a ÿ lm of the New Zealand-made Bowen shearing technique to improve their tallies.

Back in Aotearoa, the sheep population peaked at just over 70 million in 1982 but, by 2020, numbers had dropped to 26 million. Consumers were switching to cheaper alternatives such as synthetic carpets and polyester fabrics, and proÿ ts for the farmer declined.

Companies like Icebreaker have helped to renew consumer interest in some types of wool – pushing up the price of a ÿ ne merino ˛ eece, for example, to about $130. Cross-bred wool ˛ eeces by comparison only fetch about $5 a ˛ eece.

Way back in 1571, with Queen Elizabeth I on the throne, England’s parliament passed a law that all Englishmen and women (except nobles) had to wear a woollen cap to church on Sundays - part of a government plan to support the wool industry. Under Charles II, a hundred years later, parliament passed a law requiring co˝ ns to be lined in ˛ eece and for shrouds to be made of wool.

If Sam Saunders, President of Golden Shears, has his way, something similar would be enacted in New Zealand today.

“Perhaps governments could support wool by installing only wool insulation in government buildings,” Sam says.

“I hate the thought that this great product could be lost.”

England’s Worshipful Company of Woolmen (the country’s earliest guild, dating back to before the year 1200), notes that “even today there are as many sheep as there are people living in Britain. In the Falklands war our sailors were provided with face masks (as heat shields) made of wool because the nylon ones melted in missile attacks. And despite the use of manmade ÿ bres, wool is increasingly used in manufacture.”

Wool is the ultimate renewable resource – every year, sheep grow a ˛ eece and, every year, it must be shorn. Wool biodegrades naturally within a few months of being returned to the soil – releasing nutrients back into the earth.

Sam says: “Let’s support a renaissance in the demand for wool.”

I hate the thought that this great product could be lost.