Lloyd Rees (right) and health and fitness coach and trainer Matt Luxton, after Rees' British-breeds record of 902 lambs in nine hours in Wales on Friday 19 August. Photo / Supplied

A big challenge has been thrown out to New Zealand’s fastest shearers after the shattering of a British breeds record twice in a week by two guns each with about a decade of experience in New Zealand.

The ultimate came on Friday 19 August when 28 year old Welsh shearer, Lloyd Rees, shore 902 lambs in nine hours at Blaenbwch Farm, near Builth Wells, in Wales.

It was the first time an average of more than 100 an hour has been exceeded in any official World, British or other record attempt, on target from an also record-breaking two-hour run of 203 5am to breakfast at 7am, followed by succeeding 1 hour 45 minute runs of 174, 171, 177 and 177 to the finish at 5pm.

It averaged 35.92 seconds a lamb caught, shorn and despatched as Rees beat the previous record of 881 set by English shearer Nick Greaves, now 27, during a two-stand record with brother-in-law and Welsh shearer Llyr Jones in Staffordshire on Friday 12 August.

Greaves had runs of 196, 173, 172, 171 and 169, and Jones 184, 164, 164, 161 and 163.

British records rules take into account the lesser wool the UK breeds, with a minimum wool-weight average of 0.8kg per lamb, no requirement for a top-knot, and less belly wool.

World Record lamb shearing rules require the top-knot and head-wool, and a minimum average 0.9kg of wool per lamb.

But despite difficulty of getting sufficient numbers of tally sheep at one time in the UK, making 9 hour days a rarity, the World Record has twice been set in the UK, as have 2 ewe-shearing records by New Zealand brothers Matt and Rowland Smith.

“The lambs came from a few different flocks to get enough sheep and it would be only the second proper structured nine hour day I’ve done in the UK,” said Rees; “Some days I’ve had to shear for longer just to finish off a farm,” he said. “We don’t do set working days here. It’s more about trying to shear one or two peoples flocks each day.”

In 2019 he had shorn 907 in a 9 hour blow out at Otanapae, near Taupo, set up by Bay of Plenty contractor Jeff Dorsett, for whom he’s worked 6 of his 10 seasons in New Zealand, having started in South Taranaki with contractor Brendan Iremonger and also working 3 seasons for Jamie McConnachie at Winton.

World Shearing Records Society judge and UK based New Zealander Johnny Fraser said the record lambs Aberfield X and Scottish black face Aberfield X, weighing about 34-35kg.

The World 9 hour lamb shearing of 872 was shorn by Oxfordshire shearer Stu Connor in England last year, beating the 867 shorn by Irish shearer Ivan Scott in July 26 at Cornwall farm Trefranck, farmed by Matt Smith, who had set his ewes record 5 days earlier.

The highest official tally in New Zealand remains the 866 shorn by Hawke’s Bay gun Dion King in a King Country woolshed in January 2007, the World Record for more than 9 years.

One week record holder Greaves has in New Zealand shorn mainly for Napier contractor Brendon Mahony and as part of a preparation which the Covid-19 crisis stretched to about 3 years he shore 763 of Tarawera Station’s toughest pumiced sheep lambs, between Napier and Taupo, in a 9 hour non-record blow out in January 2020.

It was notable for the conditions in which he used 42 combs and more than 200 cutters, but needed only 2 combs and 36 cutters for his record, the combs regrinded for each of the runs during the day.

Records society chairman Paul Harris said that while conditions for the World and British records are different, the British guns had “thrown out a challenge” to the best New Zealand can muster.

The society currently has 4 World Record bids on its books, starting this Thursday when English shearer Marie Prebble, who has also worked several years in New Zealand, plans to establish a women’s strongwool ewes record for 8 hours at Trefranck.

In New Zealand Reuben Alabaster, of Taihape, and Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti, will on December 20 and December 22 respectively make separate attempts on the men’s 8 hours strongwool lambs record of 744, set by Ivan Scott in New Zealand almost 10 years ago.

On February 4 next year King Country-based shearer Sacha Bond will attempt the women’s 8 hours strongwool lambs record in Southland, targeting the mark of 510 shorn by mainly New Zealand-based Canadian shearer Pauline Bolay in a Port Waikato woolshed in 2019.

There have been several bigger lamb shearing blow outs over 900 in non-record conditions in New Zealand over the years, including 1103 by Southern Hawke’s Bay shearer Rodney Sutton in a Bay of Plenty woolshed in February 2006.

Doug Laing, Media Officer, Shearing Sports New Zealand