Whether it is cheering on the local bloke or watching highly trained professionals at their best, the show highlight combines trade and sport and showcases the farming expertise that keep the region in steady economic and agricultural affluence.

While the annual competition, now going strong for more than three decades, has seen the best of local and visiting shearers testing their skills against themselves and the clock, the work behind the scenes to mark out a permanent fixture of contending shearers is a rags-to-riches tale that shaped the Glen Innes Show, dedicated competitors and local businesses that banded together in the interest of good sport.

Highlighting the 1963 local show, the inaugural shearing competition quickly became a popular attraction for both shearers and spectators and, under the leadership of Bill and Archie Cameron and Keith Hayes, continued as a crowd-drawing showcase of trade talent until 1990.

While there is record of earlier shearing competitions as far back as 1948, the competition of the mid 60’s and later operated under the standardised rules of the Shearing Competition Federation of Australia (SCFA), drawing attention from further afield as shearers began travelling to compete on local ground.

By 1990, the sport had gained some independence from the local Show Society, forming an executive committee of shearers and volunteers who took up the reins and met the challenges of running the annual competition alongside the already established stud sheep breeders.

With contamination of stud stock and the ever looming threat of Johnes Disease and foot rot causing unrest among both the shearing and stud competitors in the early 1990’s, the need for a dedicated shearing competition headquarters became inevitable and as the 90’s wore on the newly formed shearing committee was prompted to consider alternative options.

With portable shearing equipment proving unsuitable during a trial run in 1992 the committee, then under the presidency of veteran local shearer Col Baker, who had a hand in show shearing since its inception, approached the Show Society in 1993 hoping to secure more permanent fixtures on the Showgrounds.

While heritage listing provided come challenges, local shearers were able to secure the rundown pavilion alongside the stud competition and set to work refurbishing rotting foundations.

With guidance from experienced builder Malcolm Baker and assistance from a crew of dedicated volunteers, local shearers banded together to transform the dilapidated foundations into an all new competition shearing floor.

From wood cutting to raffles and the support of numerous local businesses, the new shearing pavilion was officially opened for the 1994 show and has hosted competitions annually since then.

As show season takes a pause, the shearing pavilion doubles as a convenient headquarters for shearing training courses run under the guidance of experienced local instructors and since its inception has produced talented and industry savvy shearers, with the competition boasting local contenders going on to national and international competitions.