The No 8 Wire

Shear innovator saluted

A shearing dynasty in Hawke's Bay has spread its wings even further with a Wairoa farmer's daughter winning innovation honours in the annual celebration of small business prowess, the David Awards.

Storm Baynes-Ryan, now living in Gisborne and whose mum and sister hold a world women's shearing record, developed Shear Pace, an app that helps shearers achieve shearing tally goals (www.shearpace.com).

Mum Mark and father Colin farm and run a hunting experience business at Makapua Station, west of Wairoa, while sister Ingrid is married to world shearing champion Rowland Smith.

Judges in the awards said Shear Pace is a business "which demonstrates a new or clever way of going about things, or which is conceptually innovative, or a business which develops and harnesses technology to help it punch above its weight."

Ms Baynes-Ryan hopes to take advantage of the mentorship offered by the judges and make Shear Pace more efficient, and is meeting with a government agency with hopes of further development.

"Getting feedback from the judges will be wonderful and it will help," she said.
It is available in iTunes and on Android.

Record entry

The world shearing and woolhandling championships in Invercargill early next year, in which Rowland Smith is hoping to defend his title, have been extended a day to cope with an unexpected record entry.

Organisers said this week 32 countries have so far entered the now-four day championships which will open a day early on February 8 with All-Nations events as an open-entry appetiser to the competition for the teams and individual world titles in machine shearing, blade shearing and woolhandling.