Marie Prebble - Best practice considerations for shearing in the UK

Marie Prebble says that she learnt a lot about the shearing and wool industry through work experience at home and from travelling to France, Scotland, Norway and Iceland as part of her project. She was able to carry this out in 2019 and 2020 as a result of winning the NSA Samuel Wharry Memorial Award for the Next Generation in late 2018.

Highlights for Marie during her bursary trip included being able to shear in a final at the 2019 sheep shearing World Championships in France and at the Norwegian Championships in October, while networking with knowledgeable and well-connected people involved in shearing and wool handling.

“It was particularly interesting to shear in Iceland and experience a strong cultural attitude to wool,” she says. “I learnt a lot from attending the North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool conference in Norway and made several contacts there.” 

Marie says she would ‘absolutely’ recommend young sheep farmers to apply for a travel bursary. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for any young person involved in the sheep industry, to explore an area of work they find interesting,” she says.