Aaron's sheer determination

First published in 1955, until 2000 it was known as the Guinness Book of Records. And since 2000 as Guinness World Records [1, 2]. Whatever its name, I’ve never owned a copy. Or even browsed through one. In Farmdoc’s Blog I’ve mentioned it only twice– both in 2008 [3, 4]. For someone fascinated by statistics and numbers, as I am, it’s odd. Maybe it’s because many of the activities the records are set in, are bizarre and contrived. As if wannabes excogitate an activity just to set a record and gain a citation in the Guinness book. Enter 35-year-old Aaron Hemley (pictured), from Callawadda in western Victoria [5]. Last week in nearby Stawell, watched by a crowd of 800, he shore 904 sheep in 48 hours – continuously apart from a 45-minute sleep [6, 7]. That’s a bit over three minutes per sheep. An amazing effort. Aaron trained for the marathon for six months. His team included wool classers, a masseuse, a doctor, a physiotherapist, a dietitican, and adjudicators. During the 48 hours he lost 5kg weight. Oh, I almost forgot: He broke the world endurance shearing record – by 24 hours! As someone who couldn’t shear even one sheep, I salute you, Aaron. Especially as your effort raised A$100,000 for the Stawell Hospital’s Oncology Unit. That’s A$110.62 per sheep.

farmdoc's blog post number 534

Last Sunday, in our Hayshed Paddock, my sharefarmer Sharon and I had a leisurely confab and decided that as our paddock grass is growing causing our goats and sheep to have all but lost interest in hay, we’d stop feeding out hay forthwith. Each May when we start with the hay, it’s so much fun. The animals run for it, then they gobble and munch and crunch as if their lives depended on it. Which they do. For through the cold and dark and wet months when the grass doesn’t grow, they need hay – for warmth, roughage and some nutrition. In deep winter, feeding hay’s a drudge. But it must to be done, so done it is. Daily. Then when spring arrives and the weather’s again conducive to outdoor pursuits, hay feeding ends. Ain’t that life in a nutshell. Like when you’re young and your financial needs are greatest, you’re not at your earning peak. But when you’re older and you’re earning more money, your needs are less. Also last Sunday, Sharon sheared the pictured wether lambs (born in late 2008), then I drenched them, then we turned them out into the Home Paddock. The theory (and practice) is that without wool they’ll be colder, so they’ll eat more to keep warm, so they’ll put on weight. By month’s end they’ll be fit to kill. We may BBQ or roast one to mark the end of the hay feeding months – and the end of another turn of the annual farm cycle.