They say the three things you need for a successful days shearing are; good preparation; good weather and a good shearer. The College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) can’t help you out with the weather, but we can help you with your preparation and shearing skills.

Graeme Davidson has been attending CAFRE shearing courses since he first started shearing. This has helped Graeme win many quality prizes, titles and prestigious awards including the Worshipful Company of Woolmen Junior Final.

CAFRE, in conjunction with the British Wool Marketing Board’s shearer training team, will be running a series of shearing courses across Northern Ireland in May and June. These courses are aimed at everyone, from the complete novice to the competition/contract shearer. The courses cover every aspect of the shearing process, from setting up the equipment and pens to packing and presenting the fleece for sale.

Each course lasts two days starting at 9.30 am and finishing around 4.30 pm. The venues for this year’s courses and the days they are on are listed in the table below:

Shearing courses

There tends to be a high demand for places on these courses so if are interested in attending one of them, please contact the Industry Training Administration team at Greenmount Campus by phone on 028 9442 6873 or by emailing [email protected].