SOLVING a shortage of shearers has become the curly question of the State’s wool boom. But the industry’s peak body says jetting in shearers from the UK to clip sheep on farms across WA during peak times could be the answer.

The State is enjoying a wool boom not seen since the hey days of the 1980s, thanks to surging demand from China combined with drought affecting wool producers in the Eastern States.

The strong demand, combined with tight supply, sent the benchmark wool price soaring above $20/kg for the first time this month, up from $13 in recent years and putting a value on WA’s annual wool clip of more than $1 billion.

The high prices mean wool producers are lifting stock levels, while uncertainty over the live export trade meant thousands more sheep may need shearing.

But the WA Shearing Industry Association is warning the State doesn’t have enough shearers to cope with the demand during the two peak seasons — one starting now and running through to October and a second peak from January to April.

Association president and Spencer Shearing owner Darren Spencer, who runs a team of up to 40 shearers based at Lake Grace, said the State had about 100 shearing contractors employing about 1000 full-time shearers.

“But we need more,” he said. “We’re coming into a real peak time now and the numbers of shearers are just not there.”

Mr Spencer said the UK had a special visa that allowed Australian workers to jet in for the peak shearing season, but there was no reciprocal arrangement.

The association met WA Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan this week to discuss the shearing shortage and enlist her help to lobby the Federal Government for changes to workers’ visas.

Adding to the shearer shortage are improvements to wages and conditions in New Zealand, which has led to fewer shearers coming to Australia to fill vacancies.

“We’d like an arrangement where we can bring guys from the UK and possibly other countries into WA ... we’re trying to train as many shearers as we can, but we need the extra help during the busy times,” Mr Spencer said.

About 40-50 experienced shearers would cover the shortfall, he said. The association is also urging sheep farmers to use profits from the wool boom to upgrade their shearing sheds and other equipment, with poor working conditions one reason for the shearer shortage.

“In shearing you can earn excellent money ... but there does need to be improvements in working conditions. You can go into sheds where gates are broken off, the electrical standards are not up to scratch,” Mr Spencer said.

Shearing contractor Brian Taylor’s team was hard at work this week clipping ewes at a property at Quairading, 165km east of Perth, owned by farmer Greg Hughes, who said he had decided to invest in modern upgrades to his shearing shed and facilities.

Mr Taylor also backed visa changes to make it easier to bring shearers from the UK.

“I was going to get a young bloke from the UK but he couldn’t get a visa,” he said.

Ms MacTiernan agreed skilled overseas workers could help meet the demand, alongside more training for young West Australians.