Rebuilding a shearing crew for people who want a career, not a season

Hemi Walker took over a shearing run at 24 with eight staff and a reputation problem. The industry was losing young shearers to construction and Australia, and the ones who stayed were burning out by 30.

He changed the model: salaried hours across the season instead of a per-sheep scramble, ACC-backed physio on the books, and a paid apprenticeship that takes a learner from wool handler to shearer in two seasons.

Three seasons on, the crew is nineteen strong, half of them under 25, and Hemi is turning work away. He is blunt about why it matters. If nobody can make a living in the shed, none of the clever stuff further down the chain has any wool to work with.