French shearers help Victorian wool industry by lending a hand

Mr Terra, 31, is one of four travelling Frenchmen working for Pearse Shearing at Ararat in south west Victoria in a move the company's director said helped fill the labour shortage in shearing sheds.

"The people are good to work for, my work mates are good people and it's like running a marathon, but it's fun," Mr Terra said.

"It's a good place to learn because shearing a Merino is much more work than what we're used to in France."

Corentin Planon, 24, is another Frenchman who worked for Pearse Shearing pre-pandemic and returned this year with a group of colleagues, including Mr Terra.

"In September, October and November, there is not much shearing in France but there are lots of shearing jobs in Australia and that's why I'm here," Mr Planon said.

"I started shearing in France and thought I would come to Australia to learn more about Merino sheep."

Mr Planon was taught about shearing by his father, a farmer/shearer, about five years ago and said one of the biggest differences between shearing in Australia and France was the use of a shearing shed.

"In France we have short wool sheep and when we shear, I take a stand with me wherever I go," he said.

"We don't have shearing sheds in France, there are sheds but they are not just for shearing so the idea of using a shed to shear sheep is quite unusual for me."

New Zealand-born Pearse Shearing director Roger Pearse moved to Australia in 2004 and said his team of shearers were bolstered by the men from France.

"There's labour shortages everywhere," he said.

"We're not only short on shearers, we also have a shortage of shed hands, pressers and classers so it's a shortage right across the industry."

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Mr Pearse employs 50 full-time shearers in the western district, and usually employs an extra 30 people through the busier times of the year.

Many of those workers are people visiting from overseas on a working holiday.

"We're about 30 contractors short of where we were pre-pandemic," he said.

"Usually most of that 30 are from the UK and New Zealand, but it's probably the first time we've had so many shearers here from France.

"They have good attitudes and want to get better and better and we'll give anyone a go that's got the right attitude."

Mr Pearse said people on working visas were "part of the answer".

"We'd love to get more locals involved to address the shortage," he said.