Federated Farmers warn that the new immigration policy for agriculture and fisheries workers has missed a crucial group: shearers.
Although some skilled labourers can now enter New Zealand to operate complex machinery like combine harvesters or fill vital veterinary roles, a lack of experienced shearers could see a 180,000 sweltering sheep are left unshorn each week this summer.
Chris Lewis is the Employment Spokesperson for Federated Farmers.
