KIWIS, including King Country farmers, who travelled to Mongolia in June had a truly unique experience teaching locals how to shear, sort and prioritise wool and some even had a lesson in how to shear camels. Photo Rabobank
King Country farmers have returned from almost a month in Mongolia, where they taught locals how to machine shear sheep as part of Share Mongolia’s education programme.
But the Kiwis weren’t the only ones doing some teaching – one group of instructors even took the opportunity to learn how to shear camels in the Gobi Desert.
The trip was one of a series of educational courses run by Share Mongolia, which was started by Rabobank manager Paul Brough, and saw four Mongolian herders travel to New Zealand at the beginning of this year.
Budee, Ama, Khanda and Baaska captured a lot of attention in the three months they were based primarily in the King Country, as they progressed from not knowing the tools to being competitive in the junior grades of shearing competitions.
This time the men got the opportunity to impart their skills on their peers and played a vital role in bridging the language gap.
In total 112 Mongolian herders attended seven courses held in a five week period, funded by the United Nations, NZ embassy in Beijing and the Rabobank Community Fund.
Paul was one of 12 New Zealanders to go, with the rest made up of Rabobank staff and their farming clients.
Among them were Rebecca and Lloyd Alexander, who live near the Taranaki-King Country border.
“It was interesting. It was hot; so hot. It got up to 38 degrees and the wind was blowing. It was pretty challenging,” Rebecca said.
They started their Mongolian experience in the Gobi Desert, doing shearing demonstrations in mobile trailers for Good Growth Company, which is working to regenerate degraded landscapes.
“Their focus is to help Mongolians to get more for their fibre, so they can destock. Because the Gobi is overstocked,” Rebecca said.
Three decades ago stock numbers for families herding in the Gobi averaged about 75 heads, compared to more like 400-500 now.
Rebecca said there were obvious time-related benefits to shearing compared to traditional Mongolian wool removal methods involving clipping the wool off with scissors.
“The animal is restrained for longer when they do it with their traditional method, than when you do it with an electric handpiece.
“I think it takes four and a half minutes to cut the wool off a sheep in the traditional manner, and it takes less than a minute with a handpiece.”
Shearing a herd of 300 sheep takes about 10 days using traditional Mongolian techniques. In New Zealand, Rebecca said she expected the same amount would take a few shearers about two hours in a run.
But shearing compared to clipping also had the benefit of removing the whole staple from the animal, producing longer fibres for sale, rather than cutting it in half.
Modern shearing could also benefit the camel fibre industry, as the Kiwis found out firsthand when they shore four baby camels in the desert.
Camel fleece – used to make clothing, blankets and other textiles – has two fibres.
One is a soft downy fibre used for spinning into wool and the other is a rougher, medullated fibre which is separated at the processing factory.
Adult camels can also be shorn, but the fleece is different – the fibre on young calves is a fine micron, making the wool it produces lighter to wear.
Rebecca’s husband got into the thick of it with Rabobank agribusiness associate Sam Bryan, from Ashburton. They shore an average 5.2kg of approximately 8cm long fibre from the camels.
Normally it’s expected the same camels would produce about 4kg each.
“Camels are quite dry to shear. They don’t have any natural oils the way sheep have lanolin,” Rebecca said.
“They lie it down and tie its feet together so it’s safe for the handler and it’s safe for the camel.
“And then you just start on the legs and work your way up the body. There’s no real pattern to it, not like there is with sheep.
“So, you shear one side and then you turn the camel over and shear the other side.”
Like any large animal, the young camels weren’t particularly fond of laying down, Rebecca said, but handpieces reduced the amount of time they needed to spend on the ground.
And as much as stock anywhere don’t tend to like a lot of handling, Rebecca noticed a difference in the Mongolian animals.
“All of the animals in Mongolia are so much calmer than animals in New Zealand. Not that we have mobs of camels here, but all of the animals are handled so much more than animals here in New Zealand.
“I think Mongolians thought our animals were tame, but after being to Mongolia and seeing how the sheep are herded and how the camels are herded, and how they deal with their horses and their cattle, I just think that there’s no way we could do half the things with our animals that they do with theirs.”
After their time in the Gobi, Rebecca’s group travelled north to the Arkhangai province and led a course in Battsengel.
Of 21 locals who participated, 19 stayed until the end and three earned the highest commendation they could.
“If at the end of the training they can pick up the handpiece, shear two sheep without being told the pattern or what to do with their feet, then they get one sticker,” Rebecca explained.
“Then if they’re outstanding, they get two stickers.”
But the course focused on more than just how to shear. They talked about wool quality, treating wool preferentially and breeding their stock for white wool.
Rebecca said if they started treating white wool preferentially, there might be a time the Mongolian herders earn more for their product than they do currently.
“So, if they’re getting more income for the wool and they have those skills as well to shear, then they do have the potential to really improve their lot.”
During their time in Mongolia, the New Zealand volunteers stayed in accommodation organised by locals.
On one occasion, Rebecca and her group visited Baaska at his ger (yurt) camp for breakfast, then stayed overnight with Budee.
“I got the feeling from the families that it was just their way of saying thanks for having our boys,” she said.
“They’re so generous. They don’t have a lot. They don’t have fixed abodes that they fill with stuff. And they’re so giving and appear to be so happy.
“They have wicked senses of humour and they’re laughing all the time.”
For Hauturu farmer Liz Robinson, the first week in Mongolia involved a few accommodation changes, including a very rudimentary hall, a motel in town, and eventually a ger.
The crew she travelled with ran two shearing courses, with the second one falling during the Naadam festival.
The annual mid-summer celebration sees locals participate in three games; horseracing, wrestling and archery.
“They get all their horses out and all these kids – five year old kids – ride their horses about 10km out then gallop back,” Liz said.
The crew ultimately took their truck to the festival grounds and did shearing demonstrations.
Liz said although she and partner Owen Bartlett had no real idea what they were going into, it was a great experience.
There’s more to come from Share Mongolia, with Paul Brough expecting to head back over to the nomadic nation by June next year.
And he hoped to bring more promising Mongolians to New Zealand in the new year.
This time Paul planned to get about 10 people into the country, including some women.
The four herders who made the trip in January arrived with just a 7kg carry-on bag to sustain them for their three-month stay.
That meant a lot of their first pays went to purchasing the right clothing and gear to enable them to get the most out of their shearing education.
Paul said to minimise the risk of a similar situation happening, he would be grateful for any donations of second hand shearing gear.
That included clothing, gumboots, sweat towels and handpieces.
Paul said the herders wouldn’t need a handpiece each and about five should do the trick for a visiting party of 10.
New Zealand-made goods have made a mark on Mongolia, with Feilding’s Handypiece 12v handpieces proving their salt in dusty and sandy conditions.
And soon the country will have its first wool press, thanks to the generosity of a Te Kūiti local who donated one to be sent over.
The wool press is expected to cut shipping costs by a third.
Anyone who would like to contribute to Share Mongolia’s efforts can contact Paul by emailing info@sharemongolia.org
