All Wool. Growers and Wool Classers have been misled over the years regarding quality control expected by mills and processors. They have cultivated the myth that they are very particular about all facets of wool preparation for their products. 

Maybe 100 years ago or even 60 they were but not now. There is not a scour in the world that the wool gets more than a cursory glance before it is tipped into the infeed hopper by a forklift.

The Japanese always stressed how particular they were, but even 40 years ago that was a lie. See  " The Wool Sting "

Wool Buyers use terms like."It's for the So and So's they wouldn't know the difference.",  "it's going a long way away, the further the better..:  " It all melts down  in the scour." "It will all average out." To justify anything. 

There must always be something new to instill some fear into the wool producers,  - like mulesing.  There would not be one person in a hundred in Australia who knew what it meant, not one in a thousand world wide. Go into a Butchers shop and ask the Butcher he would know, ask if any of his customers ever ask about mulesing, the answer will be, NO.

Go into a clothing retailer, the staff wouldn't know what mulesing was ,and wouldn't have been asked by customers either. 

  There are only two reasons for classing a wool clip.

1. To obtain the highest  possible price for the wool grower. The most important reason .   

 2 To make even lines of wool for the maximum appeal to the wool buyers.

  It must be remembered that wool testing has always been a raffle/ gamble, with micron, yeild and vegetable matter, if you get a bad result in all of them you will be slaughtered , so it is best to make the odds in your favor.

 This can be obtained to the satisfaction of all concerned  by a few simple techniques ,to all types of wool,  only limited by your imagination.

 For example in most shearing sheds there is a butt for table locks and one for board locks.  If the table locks happen to go into the press first, a higher yield will result, three per cent or more.

 The opposite to when wool was sold subjectively, every thinking Wool  Classer always put the table locks on the top ,never any complaints.  After all it is still locks. Many Dealers used to blend a few third pieces into the last arm full into the press, didn't do any harm.

..Pieces/skirtings.  Are easily prepared by making two lines, one from the neck end minus seedy jaw pieces,  and the other from the stronger britch end of the fleece. Neck end in press first , britch end last, It is all pieces no complaints there.

 Bellies, it's not hard to make firsts and seconds, firsts into the press first , seconds last. If you need to ask why ,you don't need to know. It's just the best way to sell bellies by objective measurement.

  Fleece wool, class as normal, keep aside finer tender wool, and a few stronger or fatty fleeces .When pressing  a few tender fleeces say 20 kgs on the bottom of bale will make the result slightly finer and a few fatty or stronger fleeces on top won't hurt either. 

 Lambs wool ( to  be continued)

  It is very perplexing for fine merino growers to see their product not maintaining a viable margin over medium wool merinos,and other microns.  

  On February 22 2019, the margin between 17 micron and 21 micron was 205  c/ kg clean. Exactly 12 months earlier it was 827 c/ kg clean difference, or another way 17 micron down 196 c/kg and 21 micron up 426 c/kg.

  It is very optimistic and misguided to expect a price rise in super fine merino wool in the near future. With large stocks of tops in Europe of cashmere /merino blends,  super fine merino and mohair/merino blends. All of which are eligible to be sold as cashmere or mohair , without mention of of the blend .

There is no reason for an increase which super fine merino wool growers may expect and deserve.  The cartels that collude to maintain the price of cashmere and mohair, are beyond anyone's control to date.  Maintain exclusiveness is the name of the game. 

  Surely this would be something something for Australian Wool Innovation Wool Innovation to try to do something about. Obviously fine merino wool is as good a fibre as cashmere or mohair.

   Another $ 10 million or is it $ 17 million to be blown on robotic shearing, a never ending quest by Australian Wool Innovation.

   I believe the whole idea is just to siphon money off to line someone's pockets. 

   The  Chinese have just landed a rocket on the far side of the moon, surely they could knock up a shearing robot in no time.

   Former U.S. vice president  Al Gore,  in his  2013 book, "The Future " on page 193 says China has 284 million sheep and goats. ( that's a surprise).  If they haven't got robotic shearing anything made for that purpose in Australia will be far more expensive than the current shearing method, on many grounds. 

   Who will bring the sheep to the robot ?

   Who will pickup the wool, which will be in a complete mess?

    Who will disengage the sheep from the robot,  and direct it out of the shed?

    There will be no savings, no viable robot, but the money will go, like with the wool portal and other failed schemes.

  No surprise the disgusting Peta Australia.  Barbecued  Dog stunt . filmed in Sydney on 23January 2019.

  Similar to the blood soaked lamb in April 2015

  I was amazed to learn that Peta Australia  has been granted charity tax free status  in  2017 by the Federal Government.this should be canceled to such a dishonest and fraudulent organization