In what shearing trainers think could be an Australian or even world-first, 12 professional female shearers had handpieces humming at the same time at a Telopea Downs woolshed this week.
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The special scene took place during the inaugural Shear N Gear Women's Shearing Workshop that was held at the McBride's Eureka property near the SA-Vic border.
A brainchild of Shearing Contractors Association of Australia shearer woolhandler training executive officer Glenn Haynes, the workshop was inundated with applications and hosted 17 up and coming female shearers from across Australia.
The group learnt tips and tricks of the trade from some of shearing's biggest names - two-time world champion Shannon Warnest and world record holding female shearer Catherine Mullooly.
Ms Mullooly made the trip over from Matawai, New Zealand. In January, she set a new benchmark for the women's eight-hour strong wool ewe shearing record at an astounding 465.
While initially nervous about what to expect from the all-female concept, Ms Mullooly was quickly in her element teaching the attentive group about making the job smarter, not harder.
"We've been going back to basics and talking about control of sheep," she said.
'I'm not a big person and none of us girls are so we've been working on balance and footwork. They've all got different patterns and techniques.
"I have shorn in Australia before but I do mostly crossbred shearing (in NZ), but I was able to teach them a lot more than I initially thought I could.
"You could see the difference from the first day when everybody was a bit nervous. They've made big improvements just in the two days and I think they'll all leave here as friends too."
Ms Mullooly said the shearing industry offered people a world of opportunity - she has shorn in Australia, Ireland, Scotland and the United Kingdom.
She said it was heartening to see more and more females on the handpiece and not just roustabouting or at the classing table.
"The money is very good. All you need is to be willing and have a good attitude," she said.
Among the group was SA's Zoe Kassebaum and Maxi Armistead, Colac, Vic.
Ms Kassebaum made the 800 kilometre trek across from Kimba to attend the workshop and works as a shearer and roustabout on the Eyre Peninsula.
Ms Armistead has been working in shearing teams for three years, the first 18 months on the wool table and the past 18 as a shearer.
A quick learner, she did her first 100-sheep day on her third day on the handpiece and first 200-sheep day within nine months. Her current personal best is 302.
"When I got into shearing I liked the idea of being your own boss in a way," Ms Armistead said.
"I wanted to make good money but also be able to push myself every day, which you can't always do as a roustabout."
Shearers can make in the range of $4 to $4.50 a sheep, "not a bad living" Ms Armistead said once one can get into 100 sheep a day plus territory.
Ms Armistead said the industry felt "more accessible" to females than ever before and young female shearers had plenty of role models to aspire to, including those who put on the Telopea Downs workshop.
"The trainers have been amazing and have been teaching us more than just the shearing - they've taught us about mindset, gear and time management," she said.
"I've never been in a shed shearing with this many other girls so it has been incredible."
Organiser Glenn Haynes said the two-day workshop had covered positioning, balancing and moving a sheep, gear selection, goal setting, time management and techniques to shear different types of sheep.
Mr Haynes said the growth of females getting on the handpiece grew rapidly during Covid, with limited shearers available.
"What we found over the couple of years then training them was how quickly females improved from that learner shearer through to an improver shearer and then into a professional shearer doing 120 plus sheep a day," he said.
"The quality was always exceptional and they were easy to teach."
Mr Haynes said the workshop had been a great networking opportunity for the trainee shearers, who were often working with teams of men during their day-to-day jobs.
"To see what the girls have picked up from Catherine has been nothing short of phenomenal," he said.
"The networking they have done is also really valuable.
"It was pretty awesome to see a 12-stand shed with 12 professional shearers shearing at the one time. We had the girls rotating between stands and the wool room and they were all in awe looking around at what they were part of."
