Sheep in South Dakota are shorn every year in the spring. Sheep producers hire professional shearers to come to the farm or ranch to shear their flock. For centuries, “blade” shearers used long bladed, razor sharp, scissor-like shears to clip the wool. Blade shearing crews traveled from ranch to ranch or set up a central camp on the open range. If set up in a stationary location, sheep herders would trail their flock to the shearing camp. Blade shearing was popular until the 1930s when shearers switched to clippers powered by gas-powered motors. Pictured here is a shearing crew set up in South Dakota.