Freshly back from the 2023 Golden Shears Sheep Shearing and Wool-handling World Championships in Scotland, Gilgandra wool classer, Racheal Hutchison finished a creditable sixth in the world championship wool handling final.

Featuring 380 competitors, including 78 wool handlers from more than 30 countries, the competition was held in June at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh.

Ms Hutchison has worked in the wool industry since she was 16 years old - it was a familiar place as her father and brothers were shearers.

“I didn’t know much different,” she told NSW Farmers.

Spending five years as a rouseabout in her brother Bill Hutchison’s shearing team, Ms Hutchison followed him to shearing competitions, eventually competing in the wool handling contests. She also competed in her first Trans Tasman wool handling competition in 2007.

In 2008, Ms Hutchison completed a Certificate IV woolclassing course, through TAFE at Dubbo. Eventually she added her brother Danny Hutchison and his contract shearing and wool classing team to her original one and is now responsible for organising up to 16 shed workers in the Gilgandra district.

Ms Hutchison was one of several competitors to head to the UK early to familiarise themselves with the British rules and the wool which Ms Hutchison said was more matted than Australian fleeces, similar to carpet wool. In UK, the fleece is rolled and tucked in whileclassing and is also not skirted; steep learning curves.

Wool harvesting continues to be a family affair, Ms Hutchison told NSW Farmers. During school holidays, Ms Hutchison and partner Jeff include their three children in their contract shearing team. Sons, Maverick and Conrad recently competed at the 2023 Trans Tasman contest in New Zealand.

“[Daughter] Sasha has also pitched into help and picks up the belly wool and sweeps the shed,” Ms Hutchison said. “There are a lot of improvements in conditions in shearing sheds. We’re starting to see farmers install toilets – or hire temporary toilets. There’s more sheds with running water and soap. Those types of conditions build positive relationships between the farmer and my crew. We need each other and together we’re having a positive impact in the wool industry.”

Ms Hutchison and Victorian wool classer Mark Purcell, Australia's national wool handling champion, won the Trans Tasman Championships earlier in the year.

Industry leader, Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) chief executive Mark Grave said around Australia, seven out of 10 wool classing trainees were now women.

Young women are now not only commonplace in shearing sheds, but the girls are also showing that by using best practice techniques they can more than match the boys!