01Superfine Merino ewes
02A ram gets clipped
03Sheepdogs at Hopefield, Boorowa
04Woolgrower Andrew Ledger
05Superfine Merino wool
06A rouseabout with a newly shorn fleece
07Sold wool bales
08Wool broker Craig Lawson
09Scott Carmody, wool buyer for Lempriere
10Trucking sub-contractor at Yennora Wool Selling Centre
11An AWH forklift operator picks up wool bales at Yennora Wool Selling Centre
12International shipping terminal at Port Botany, Sydney. Eighty per cent of Port Botany’s wool exports are for the Chinese market
13Henry Knight-Gregson, wool buyer for The Schneider Group, at Yennora Wool Selling Centre
14Lachlan Sutton, New South Wales technical manager for Elders, conducts an auction at Yennora Wool Selling Centre
Fine fleeces /Having faltered during the 1990s, the Australian Merino wool industry is seeing a resurgence on the back of a growing luxury market in China and it’s proving a welcome boost to Brand Australia along the way.
Ninety per cent of Australian Merino is sold through the national auction system, managed by Elders Australia. Before auction, each wool grower’s clip is taken to a regional centre for testing by the Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA), where a core sample is taken to ascertain micron, yield and vegetable matter content. The sample is then sent to laboratories in Melbourne and Fremantle to be assessed for micron value. Once purchased, three bales of wool are compacted by machine into one bale, bar-coded and loaded into containers.
The quality of Merino is measured in microns (micrometres) and the lower the micron, the finer the wool. The Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA) has lent its technology to Merino wool growers since the 1980s, meaning every sheep can be individually tested for fibre length, strength, and curvature.
So how does one discern between the different micron fleeces? In terms of fleece definition, ultrafine wool is considered to be 14.9 micron and finer. Superfine wool is between 15 and 18.6 microns, and coarse wool is anything above 23 microns.
What to look for in a Merino sheep, as told by wool grower, Tim McGrath, of Hopefield, Boorowa, NSW
Body: “I’m looking for a longer body, straight up. The longer the sheep, the more everything: more wool, and more meat.”
Loin, back, flank and hindquarter: “Deep in the loin, going down the back and down the flank, down to the hindquarter. The area near the sheep’s rear end is where they grow a large bulk of the wool.”
Chest: “Reasonably big chest, so she’s got plenty of heart room, which means she can walk all day if she has to.”
Shoulder point: “Not so much at the back of the neck, more so down the point of the shoulder is the finest, more elite piece of the fleece.”
Throat: “A nice drape down the front of the neck, but nothing too over the top.”
Head: “You want good coverage, with a nice bonnet-like covered head.”
Fleece: “You want to feel the softness by hand. Dark flecked tips indicate nourishment. You also want it as clean as possible, with little vegetable matter.”
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