Sheep Industry News February 2025

promote. When she accepted her first shearing job from a Craigslist ad, Katie’s only knowledge of shearing was watch ing a show goat get trimmed. So, she could be excused a bit for the “choppy” haircuts she and a 4-H friend provided to seven sheep in a four-hour adventure. Their earnings for the day: $35. “Everything we learned was on the fly. To our knowledge, there were no shearing schools, or even other shearers in the area,” Katie says. “Freshman year of college brought the parting of ways with my initial partner, resulting in Dar ian joining the crew. She had no experience at the time and was NOT a fan of my sheep shearing method. To be fair, it was quite dangerous. I shore them on their backs but stood between their legs to peel off their fleece in one full piece with minimal second cuts. In this position, I took a lot of beatings from their strong back legs and sharp hooves. Even though I only used Oster Shearmasters and an ugly tech nique, I could get through a hundred a day. “Farmers who watched me struggle – but never give up – kept saying there was an easier way to shear sheep, but I had yet to find it. Thankfully, I came across the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Shearing School in San Angelo (Texas) my senior year of college. Once the instructors – Jake Thorne, Reid Redden and Kraig Chandler – taught me the footwork and the blows, my entire life changed.” She also used a motorized drop for the first time during the school, which gave her added power in the process. The school was a bit of an eye-opener for Darian, as well. “When Katie suggested we attend a sheep shearing school our senior year of college, I was still so wary to shear sheep that I conveniently ‘forgot’ to turn in my application by the deadline,” Darian admits. “I did get the chance to sit and watch some of it, though, and the technique and science behind it intrigued me. I applied the next year and learned the Australian method myself, changing our business model a bit as we could now shear side-by-side.” Darian grew up on a hunting ranch in central Texas as the daughter of a veterinarian. She was exposed to cats, dogs, horses, cattle and a few exotic pets, but had no experience with sheep and llamas before joining Katie’s growing busi ness in college. “After day one of shearing sheep her method, I was beat to hell and absolutely refused to do it again. She still needed help, so we renegotiated to where I would catch the sheep and Katie would shear them, a rhythm we quickly became comfortable in.” As they developed their routine and grew the business, the two faced occasional skepticism from farmers and ranchers concerned about their ability to tackle the physi

cally demanding job. “I’ve encountered many who doubted me because of my build and gender, believing there’s no way I could handle that llama, or that 130-pound Darian could catch their ag gressive ram,” Katie says. “That never bothered me either. In my mind, they just gave me the opportunity to impress them even more. My work ethic has shamed many who hold old ways of thinking. Being a two-woman team and handling any job that comes our way really drives home the idea of finesse, technique and determination.” Certainly, there were some producers who had no choice but to give the two ladies a shot given the lack of shearers in the United States. Katie and Darian made the most of the opportunity, expanding the business to as many as nine states and flocks as large as 250 head while still in college. “Once we were both shearing in the Australian method, we felt unstoppable in the small flock game,” Katie says. “We could shear a hundred in the morning, a hundred more in the afternoon, and still catch a couple farms of one to ten on the way home. "In college we serviced 130 farms, but our first year full time we moved that number to 350. The next year we did 475, and in 2020 – when the world was shutting down for Covid – we shore for 575 farms in 100 straight days, with only three days off due to illness. By 2022, I was so ill that I

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