Once upon a time, Dillon Schmaal was never going to get into shearing. Now, he and his Arno Bay family are taking their work on the road.
Shearing, and life on the farm, is very much a family affair for Dillon and Louisa Schmaal.
They met at Rawlinna Station in Western Australia, after she left shearing school in 2016 to try her luck as a station hand.
“Dillon came up as a crutcher so that’s how we met, then together we moved back to Arno Bay from there,” she said.
Eight years later, the couple are raising a young family as owners and operators of Arno Bay Shearing.
It is hard toil, but the couple work like a well-oiled machine across Eyre Peninsula and beyond to meet the everyday demands and responsibilities, while keeping perspective of the opportunities their chosen lifestyle has to offer.
“It’s rewarding hardy work; you’re your own boss, the harder you work the more you get paid.” Dillon said.
The lifestyle and the freedom are some of the perks that Louisa loves.
“We don’t have to ask anyone for time off. It’s a massive day as a shearer for Dillon who organises all the jobs and a massive day for me as a mum and a shearer, but the business is a big mental load as well,” she said.
“Dillon does such a great job, he’s just a person and he does his best to keep everything running smoothly.”
The couple have a total of five kids, with Haley and Beau living with their own mother, while Dillon and Louisa also have three younger children, Oakley, Hunter and Tully – all five and under.
The trio of youngsters spend most days outside and hanging around shearing sheds.
“The kids love it, they don’t like being inside, they like being outside or in the shed, helping, sweeping the board, all the stuff that farm kids do,” Louisa beamed.
“They love being out in the yard and helping the farmers round up sheep. They’re not inside kids, they’d rather be riding their push bikes, running around getting dirty, playing in water troughs and things like that.”
For Louisa and Dillon, striking a balance between work and family life is important.
“When they need attention Dillon or I will stop what we’re doing and give it, all the farmers are really understanding of the fact that the kids are our priority,” Louisa said.
“Hunter is our wild child, he’s obsessed with sheep and shearing, he’ll pull the machine in and out of gear and stand on the rail telling you which one to bring out, he’ll probably be a shearer.
“Dillon is just as much of a hands-on parent as I am though. We get up and start getting the kids ready, then he normally goes to the shed in the morning, sets up our hand pieces and pens the sheep while I finish getting them ready.”
By 7am, the Schmaals are finishing their set up for the day together in the shed, ready for shearing to begin at 7.30am.
“It’s nice we get to spend lunch together as a family and through the day the kids know not to wander far. All of our shearers and [roustabouts] are great about it, one of our main shearers, Craig, is brilliant with the kids and keeps an eye on them too,” Louisa said.
“We’re very lucky to have a solid team.”
While shearing offers a lifestyle of travel, the Schmaals know they could not do it without the support of those closest to them.
“Last year, Mum had the younger boys when we went away for a week. We try to keep things as normal as possible for them because the kids always come first,” Louisa said.
“Last year we did over 70 days straight at one point, when Haley comes out she’s great, she helps look after the kids or helps in the shed. It’s great for her to spend time with them too.
“We couldn’t do it without the help of our family.”
Dillon and Louisa have made the decision to pack up and travel while the kids are still young.
“We’ve actually just sold our house and we’re going to travel full time, working out of the caravan; Oakley will primarily be home-schooled for now,” Louisa said.
“We’re in the process of packing up at the moment, we’re not really sure how long for yet, we’re happy to do a bit of travelling and see the countryside.”
Dillon started shearing in 2007 and while he does not see an end date yet, he looks forward to this next stage for his young family integrating work and travel.
“We’ll have a bit more freedom, a lot of farmers on the EP are selling their sheep, so this will give our shearers a bit more time to shear while we travel and take this opportunity while we can,” he said.
“We‘ve got our loyal farmers where we shear there every year still, we take random jobs as they come up too.”
He said the industry was at something of a crossroads, but the rewards were there for those who wanted it.
“I’d love to see more young people get into shearing – it’s a dying industry I think, I don’t know what’s going to happen if more people don’t take it on. If you want to work you can make a lot of money, it’s hard but it’s rewarding,” Dillon added.
“Get through the first one or two years and you get those rewards and it gets easier. If we don’t keep it going, it’ll just turn to meat sheep and there will be nothing to shear so yeah, I’d love for more young people to get into it.
“My grandfather Max was a really good shearer for years. I said I’d never be a shearer one night at the pub, and my mate even made me sign a piece of paper, then a couple of years into me shearing he pulled out the piece of paper to show me, he still had it.”
The duo’s trusted shearers – Craig, Olly, Corey and Jesse, plus roustabouts Haymish and Gary – will continue with Arno Bay Shearing and Dillon will still manage and work with the business while the family work and travel.
