‘The toilet paper of shearing’: Demand for shearing combs and cutters soars with record demand

Demand for Heiniger shearing combs and cutters has surged a record 70 per cent as shearers bring forward purchasing orders and farmers pick up a handpiece to tackle crutching and dags.

Heiniger sales and marketing general manager Dale Harris, who is based in WA, said the Swiss business had sold more combs and cutters into the Australian market during the first half of the year than ever in the company’s 40-year history.

Sales of the two essential shearing tools had surged 70 per cent in that time, which Mr Harris said attributed to a range of reasons.

This included shearers bulk buying, farmers picking up handpieces and an influx of learners.

“We have never supplied as many combs and cutters into Australia as we have in the past six months,” Mr Harris said.

“While comb and cutter supply was up 47 per cent in the first six months, orders were up 70 per cent.”

Calling combs and cutters to the “toilet paper of the shearing industry”, Mr Harris said talks of scarcity because pf COVID-19 supply chain issues prompted both shearers and farmers to bring forward their purchasing orders and bulk-buy.

He said it was demand rather than supply, creating any issues.

“As soon as there is talk of scarcity, people will bring forward their purchasing to make sure they don’t miss out,” Mr Harris said.

“People used to be able to buy things just in time, now it is ‘just in case’.

“So some people are buying more, so that they take twice as many as they need.”

Mr Harris said stores stocking Heiniger gear were reporting that farmers and shearers were buying more than usual.

He encouraged stockists to place ongoing orders, saying a new orders had a lead time of seven months.

“There are a lot of shearers and contractors carrying a bit of extra stock,” Mr Harris said.

“Some contractors might visit stores and take everything the store has got.

“They might take 20-30 packets of combs, and 50 packets of cutters.”

Long-term demand was expected to remain strong, Mr Harris said, with some farmers buying gear to do their own crutching.

“We are seeing farmers picking up a handpiece to do their own crutching or dagging,” he said.

“So 300 farmers picking up a new handpiece, two packs of combs and three packs of cutters . . . that is a big increase in demand.”

Mr Harris also attributed demand to learner shearers graduating from Australian Wool Innovation’s shearing training schools.

The increase in sales in Australia has been a point of discussion among figureheads in the well-known, Swiss business.

But Mr Harris said the business had to consider sustainable growth.

“Australia is really the global driver for comb and cutter demand,” Mr Harris said.

“Growth for us is more like 10-20 per cent, year-on-year,

“But a 50 to 70 per cent increase is not something we can gear up to . . . and it is probably an overinflated increase.

“We do see continuing growth in shearing equipment, and we are planning for that.”

WA Shearing Industry Association president Darren Spencer said there was a perception shearing equipment had been hard to come by during the past year, and workers were chasing quality products with longevity so they didn’t have to wait.

He said shearers were starting to favour full thickness combs — rather than run-in combs have finer teeth tips allowing for easier entry — because they lasted longer.