Jack Lockyer
2024 | Agriculture - Shearing
Jack Lockyer and his employer G&A Mayled Shearing Contractors are participating in our 2024 pilot program for Employer Supported Scholarships. Read more about this pilot.
“With our industry having an ageing workforce and also being very physically demanding we will be ever be more reliant on overseas workers to sustain our industry unless we are able to encourage younger shearers. It would be interesting to find out what systems they have in place in New Zealand to encourage young people to the shearing industry.”
I grew up and still live on a merino grazing based property in the Northern Tablelands of NSW. I wanted to be a shearer from very early in my life and would participate in shearing and crutching both at home and with my father in his contracting business. I took up a school based shearing traineeship in 2022 and progressed to a full-time traineeship at the end of year 10 (2022).
This scholarship will help me broaden my knowledge of the shearing industry and give me an insight into how shearing contracting is run in different areas of the world. With our industry having an ageing workforce and also being very physically demanding we will be ever be more reliant on overseas workers to sustain our industry unless we are able to encourage younger shearers.
By building not only a network of contacts, I also hope to gain valuable workable knowledge into how you manage different personalities in various workplaces and encourage a new generation to take up work in shearing and wool handling.
Traveling around different farming communities I can see first hand and discuss what practices overseas farmers are doing to ensure their sustainability in an ever changing world both environmentally and economically. I hope to then be able to share this with others and implement them on our family farm.
A Global Footprints Scholarship is your opportunity to do more of what you love. What have you done at work that you are proud of or passionate about?
There are a few things during my short career so far that I'm very proud of. My proudest moment came just five months into full-time shearing when I won the NSW State Sports Shear Intermediate title at Dubbo in May 2023. This then enabled me to travel to Jamestown SA in October 2023 with the state team to compete at the National Shearing titles where I was fortunate enough to place 5th.
The opportunity to compete with NSW has allowed me to have a network of contacts throughout NSW and QLD. Competing in the Sports Shear circuit has not only given me the confidence to continue to develop my skills but it also has allowed me to pass these skillsets onto my fellow younger competitors.
A Global Footprints Scholarship is for you if you are passionate about creating a sustainable future. Describe something you have done at work or are working on, that helps the environment. Why is it important to you?
Given the physical demands of the Shearing Industry and the lack of longevity without any serious body issues, Work Health and Safety is a serious issue. Throughout my traineeship and further help from Australian Wool Innovation trainers I have made a conscience effort to shear the most ergonomically efficient way.
Working in the shearing industry and also the wider wool industry has reinforced what a wonderful and natural fibre wool is. For a more sustainable future we must ensure that the valuable natural characteristics of wool are at the foremost mind of the wider community. With the ever increasing amount of clothing going to landfill that is predominately un biodegradable we need to remind people of the biodegradability of the woollen fabric.
As a BBM Scholar you can choose to go anywhere in the world. Where will you travel with your Scholarship and why?
I hope to travel to New Zealand as they have a very vibrant shearing and sheep industry. Covid 19 and the subsequent shutting of our international borders brought also with it a very immediate wake up call to the Australian shearing industry. It showed how much we rely on New Zealand shearers and shed staff to fill the gaps in our labour force.
I would like to see first hand and enquire to various contractors and farmers how they continue to introduce young people to the industry.
This is an extremely important factor in the long term sustainability of the industry both here and overseas. Just in our small area we have three contracting teams with only three shearers under 30yrs of age and two shed staff under 35yrs. It would be interesting to find out what systems they have in place in New Zealand to encourage young people to the shearing industry and if I could apply it, not only to our local area but around the district and the Sports Shear circuit.
Jack and his employer GA and A Mayled Shearing Contractors are participating in the Global Footprints Employer Supported Stream, a new pilot program that works in partnership between the scholar, their employer and Global Footprints. As we go through the scholarship program together, we hope to learn from and with each other to maximise opportunities for the scholar, for the employer and their industry and to continue to deliver the greatest possible impact for young people growing a better, more sustainable world.
We thank GA and A Mayled Shearing Contractors for supporting Jack and the Global Footprints Scholarships program.