Yes, there is an international sheep shearing contest, and the retro category that attracts the most spectators is the non-motorized blade shear category that pits man with two pieces of blade steel against beast. One doesn’t have to go to Ireland or New Zealand to witness first hand but up-close and close to home in Randolph County a half hour south of Greensboro.
Rising Meadow Farm and the septuagenarian proprietors Ann and Ron Fay have been multimedia and still topics of mine before. It is their culturally rich and affectionate lifestyle that attracts my wife and I as frequent visitors.
A visit is never a disappointment and the most recent was their “Shearing Day” where master shearer and author Kevin Ford boards for a multi day visit to hand shear all of the Fay’s sheep — just as he has for the last twenty years. Kevin is no lamb as his thin stout figure with flaccid hamstrings and grisled and chiseled face are testimony to a man who knows exactly what he is doing. He knows his craft so well that he has been a consistent podium finisher in the World Shearing Championships – and author of the collectible and definitive text: Shearing Day: Sheep Handling, Wool Science, and Shearing With Blades (1999)
Andrew Jenner, who writes for Modern Farmer, has documented Kevin’s beginnings and Irish spiritual home where sheep outnumber people 7-1.
“Shearing Day” occurs annually on Valentine’s Day when lamb chilli and handmade soup are lovingly shared and served.
[portfolio_slideshow]