“Get in touch with your contractor as soon as you can to discuss the best way forward.”
Only essential tasks can be done.
If crutching is necessary for animal welfare then that work needs to be done as soon as possible, he says.
“As long as people are sensible and if a job can wait, then it can wait.”
Barrowcliffe says deferred work will need to be done later, which will increase time pressure on farmers, contractors and shearers.
Jobs will build up and it will be unrealistic to think they will all be able to be done at once.
“So, don’t leave it too late.”
The association has a list of protocols for farmers and shearers on its website www.nzshearing.co.nz.
They aim deliver a safe work environment for shearers and help farmers prepare their woolsheds.
It won’t be a case of a shearing team piling out of one or two vans, as might have been the case in the past. Instead, it could involve fewer staff and so less productivity or more vehicles.
Barrowcliffe says the impact on the industry is already huge.
