Starting a working life dedicated to sheep and wool production could not be better served if your father was a shearer and a share farmer in his spare time.
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Scott Thrift grew up near the small town of Manilla on the North West Slopes, and by the time he was 15 years old, he could shear 60 sheep a day. In today's sheds, with the rate of around $5.50 a head, it's money not to be sneezed at. But, in the mid-1980s, the classers ran the sheds, and all Scott wanted to be was a wool classer.
After completing year 10, he went to 'tech' in Tamworth and undertook his wool-classing certificate and the first steps down the road for a lifetime in the wool industry.
To draw a modern-day analogy, wool and sheep classers are similar to influencers. Their experience helps a wool grower design and breed a flock of sheep that produce a wool clip that pays the bills and flourishes under the conditions of the property the sheep are grown on.
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Mr Thrift said it was all he wanted to do from when he left primary school was going to be a classer. After 20 years working in woolsheds, he joined Elders as a sheep and wool adviser in the Traprock area of southeast Queensland, based in Warwick. It was a job made easier because of a strong network of connections built over the past two decades.
"Elders used to have about 90 per cent of the business around the Traprock," he said.
As sheep numbers declined in that area, Mr Thrift began to travel further afield, to service areas in the southwest of Queensland, like St George, Cunnamulla, Quilpie and Goondiwindi.
"There are five clients around St George who have been with me for 17 years, and the people at The Gums have been with me all that time." He said the most significant battle for wool growers in the west of Queensland for the Merino industry is finding labour.
Mr Thrift moved back to NSW 10 years ago and is based in Dubbo. He said there had been many changes in the wool industry in 30 years.
"Sheep have become plainer in the body (fewer wrinkles); they are more focused on production, fertility, and durability. There is still an emphasis on wool, but not quite as much as there used to be," he said.
"Sheep are shorn more regularly because they are more productive, and markets are dictated a lot more by meat prices."
He said lamb prices have gone up 250 to 300 per cent, and there are not as many wethers being run for wool as the dual-purpose sheep enable weaners to go straight from "mum to be fattened" for the domestic and or the export markets.
In the changing face of the sheep industry, he finds himself advising producers on Merinos, Dorpers, Australian White, White Suffolks and Border Leicesters.
"Nobody wears a suit anymore; you go to a wedding or funeral, and people don't get dressed up as much," he said.
"The good news is that wool is appearing in active wear or more casual clothing."
Simon Chamberlain
I have comprehensive experience in rural and regional journalism, as well as more than six years as a media officer for several politicians and worked in local government. I rejoined The Land in May 2022 and have loved being back in harness, reporting on a massive range of topics.
I have comprehensive experience in rural and regional journalism, as well as more than six years as a media officer for several politicians and worked in local government. I rejoined The Land in May 2022 and have loved being back in harness, reporting on a massive range of topics.
