Wool Group Announces
New Shearing Method

BOSTON — Wool Market Review newsletter reports that the International Wool Secretariat is introducing a new shearing system "that promises to revolutionize sheep shearing."

Details are skimpy, but WMR says the system, called SLAMP, for "Simplified Loading and Manipulation Platform," involves a process that "restrains sheep at a height enabling the shearer to stand upright and shear in comfort with a conventional handpiece."

The platform rotates the sheep, the newsletter adds, "and gently manipulates the legs and head of the animal, enabling wool to be removed with minimal stress to both sheep and shearer."

The Australian-originated process is expected to help reduce that country’s annual workers’ compensation payout, which now stands at about $8 million Aussie.