{"id":15106,"date":"2022-04-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=15106"},"modified":"2022-04-25T10:50:51","modified_gmt":"2022-04-25T08:50:51","slug":"a-view-from-the-farm-with-adam-henson-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/2022\/04\/06\/a-view-from-the-farm-with-adam-henson-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A view from the farm with Adam Henson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A view from the farm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n

Adam Henson<\/h2>\n\n
\n\n

IT\u2019S TIME FOR A TRIM ON OUR SHEEP FARMS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n

H<\/span>ave you ever heard the old Australian folk song \u2018Click Go the Shears\u2019? I first came across it 35 years ago when I was working on farms and sheep stations in Oz, helping to look after flocks of 16,000 ewes or more.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The song is a bit of an Aussie anthem and it\u2019s worth looking up, because although it\u2019s about shearing gangs Down Under, it paints a pretty accurate picture of life on our Cotswold farm at this crucial time of year. The lyrics describe the expertise of the lightning-quick shearers, the cleanly shorn fleeces falling to the floor and the bare-bellied \u2018Joes\u2019 (the ewes, once they have had their annual short, back and sides). And like all good working songs, the rhythm matches the pace you need to do the job well.<\/p>\n\n

Because the Antipodes have a lot of sheep, it\u2019s no surprise that Australia and New Zealand have a lot of shearers, and it has long been a tradition that when winter arrives there, shearing gangs come to the UK and travel from county to county removing millions of fleeces.<\/p>\n\n

As I write, it\u2019s unclear how many Aussies and Kiwis will be here this summer. But the ones who make it over will be welcomed with open arms; they are usually responsible for shearing around 20% of the national flock. To see a top-class shearer at work is a jawdropping sight \u2013 but despite the expertise of the gangs from Down Under, the best in the world now come from the UK. The shearing world-record holder is a farmer from my neck of the woods. Stuart Connor lives near Banbury and, last summer, sheared a remarkable 872 sheep in nine hours (that is an average of 97 complete fleeces every 60 minutes).<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"\"
It takes skill to ensure a sheep supports its own weight during shearing. Here a Scottish blackface ram has its annual clip<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

\u201cTo see a top-class shearer at work is a jaw-dropping sight\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

SHEAR SKILL<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I\u2019ve been shearing since I was a teenager and can definitely get the job done but Stuart\u2019s in a class of his own. It\u2019s not all about brute strength, though. There\u2019s the skill of handling the sheep, so it supports its own weight.<\/p>\n\n

We have over 900 ewes but we do all our shearing ourselves. As my joints creak and ache, I leave most of the shearing to Mike, our livestock manager, and his assistant Ellen. There are a lot of female shearers these days. I\u2019m occasionally asked the secret to successful shearing and the answer is that, just like mastering a musical instrument or playing a decent round of golf, practice makes perfect.<\/p>\n\n

CUTTING EDGE KIT<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Then there\u2019s the kit. As the saying goes, a good shear depends on good gear. The tools are crucial; an electric handpiece made up of a well-sharpened cutter and comb, which works in much the same way as a barbershop\u2019s hair clippers.<\/p>\n\n

The shift away from hand blades in the early 1900s revolutionised sheep farming, although by today\u2019s standards the early apparatus was pretty primitive; powered by handcranked wheels, bicycles and, eventually, petrol engines.<\/p>\n\n

What\u2019s fascinating is that despite England\u2019s long sheep farming history and the awesome reputation of English wool down the centuries, it was an Australian who helped develop electric clippers here. Jim Davidson was born in Victoria and spent his whole life working with sheep. In 1909 he was head-hunted by Robert Ashton Lister and came to the UK to share his pioneering ideas for \u2018mechanical shearing machines\u2019. The rest is history. But I wouldn\u2019t mind betting that Jumbuck Jim knew every single word of \u2018Click Go the Shears\u2019.<\/p>\n\n

Ask Adam: What topic would you like to know more about? <\/strong><\/em>Email <\/em>your <\/strong> suggestions to editor@countryfile.com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Photo: Oliver Edwards, Getty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s time for a trim on our sheep farms<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"14","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"14","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_14-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_14-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"May-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"May-2022","purple_external_id":"May-2022-14-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"May-2022-14-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000084055||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000084055||","purple_android_product":"com.im.countryfile.189","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.countryfile.189","purple_ios_product":"com.im.countryfile.189","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.countryfile.189","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"91da22fd-9e7f-40d1-a93f-fc46e9516d91","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-04-08T09:38:14Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"d7c417ac-84b1-4edc-b6f3-7df22efe8d41","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-04-25T08:50:59Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A18QXrISxTty2833yLv6NQQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[19],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/01\/573fc3c4-ac19-43bd-8e66-a60798a0a4e8.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/01\/573fc3c4-ac19-43bd-8e66-a60798a0a4e8.jpg",442,505,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/01\/573fc3c4-ac19-43bd-8e66-a60798a0a4e8-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/01\/573fc3c4-ac19-43bd-8e66-a60798a0a4e8-263x300.jpg",263,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/01\/573fc3c4-ac19-43bd-8e66-a60798a0a4e8.jpg",442,505,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/01\/573fc3c4-ac19-43bd-8e66-a60798a0a4e8.jpg",442,505,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/01\/573fc3c4-ac19-43bd-8e66-a60798a0a4e8.jpg",442,505,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/01\/573fc3c4-ac19-43bd-8e66-a60798a0a4e8.jpg",442,505,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"It's time for a trim on our sheep farms","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15106"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15631,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15106\/revisions\/15631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}