Wild dogs and low commodity prices drove almost all the sheep away from western Queensland, but now one small town is making big moves to bring wool back to wool country.
Blackall, 960 kilometres west of Brisbane, was a town built on the sheep's back.
Decades ago, there were dozens of shearing teams in the town, but drought and wild dogs decimated the sheep population.
Soon the shearers left.
But with the revival of sheep and wool in the west, largely thanks to the construction of predator-proof fencing, the need for a local team was obvious to third-generation shearer Matthew "Bear" Baillie.
Keeping it in the family
Mr Baillie had always wanted to start his own contracting business, and when the opportunity came up to take over from a Barcaldine contractor, he jumped at it.
Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he built the team from Blackall in March 2020, with the intention of keeping it as local as possible.
"It has been something I've wanted to do for a long time," Mr Baillie said.
"It is important to keep these industries owned and operated by locals.
"For the families that live in the west [and] the flow-on economic benefits help keep small country towns alive."
The team is not just local to Blackall, it is a family business.
In the shed, Bear works alongside his Dad, Kevin "Bomber" Baillie, his brother-in-law Adrian, his uncle Chris, two local Blackall shearers, and a learner shearer. His kids get involved too.
Even Bear's mother-in-law, Vera Walker, is lending a helping hand as the team's cook.
"It's a privilege to work with people that bring so much experience with them," Mr Baillie said.
Young people key to industry survival
Keeping the team local, and supporting locals is a big part of the business, and Bear knows the importance of attracting younger people to the industry if it is to survive.
"Young people are vital to the survival of these industries," he said.
Jesse Negus, a young Blackall man has been with the Baillie Shearing team for a few months, learning the tricks of the trade from Bear and Bomber.
Like all young shearers, he started out as a roustabout.
"I've only been doing it for about two months, and I've been doing a bit of everything," Mr Negus said.
But now, with two weeks under his belt as a learner shearer, he loves standing alongside the team, shearing day in, day out.
He sheared his first 100 sheep in his first week on the job, but celebrations were subdued as he had to get up and go again the next day.
"We had a couple beers, but that's about it," Mr Negus said.
For Bear, the importance of young people, like Mr Negus, joining the industry cannot be overstated.
"They are our future and we are excited to teach them and show them the way," Mr Baillie said.
