Shearing is a craft and art, as demonstrated by the Golden Shears competition in New Zealand

Henare, 31, has been dedicating himself to the business since he was 12; In that time he has amassed a total of 132 wins in various competitions.

The young man is considered to be the best at his trade, separating the wool cleanly from the skins of the sheep and then shearing it ready for processing.

Henare dominated the prestigious Golden Shears competition, which brings together shearers from around the world, in the New Zealand farming town of Masterton, population 27,000, once this year.

Drenched in sweat and panting, he won his ninth title, crediting his success to hard work, discipline and quick thinking: 60 seconds to prepare each booty.

“You need to be in good shape physically, but you also need mental strength,” he told AFP.

New Zealand, with five million people and 25 million sheep, is one of the world’s leading wool exporters: last year it sold $284 million worth of wool overseas.

Rising farm costs and falling wool prices have reduced the sheep population from 72 million in the 1980s.

However, shearers and wool handlers are in high demand, says Mark Barrowcliffe, president of the New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association.

Competition in these industries is serious business in New Zealand, with a federation — Shearing Sports NZ — overseeing these competitions.

Shearers require a considerable amount of skill and stamina to handle hundreds of sheep weighing around 60 kg during a typical eight-hour shift.

Joel Henare gave up professional shearing four years ago and now only competes as a hobby.

Among his potential successors are candidates like Ruben Alabaster, who broke a personal record last December when he was just 19 years old by slaughtering 746 sheep in eight hours.