EXCELLENCE in wool growing and classing was celebrated in Fremantle last Friday night at the annual Elders Supreme Clip of the Sale award presentations.
The Elders team welcomed staff, clients and classers from across the State in acknowledgement of the hard work that had gone into preparing the cream of the Elders clip for the 2018/19 season.
Master of ceremonies for the evening Elders western zone sales performance manager Ian White kicked off the evening by congratulating all of the award recipients for their efforts.
There are 10 criteria on which the Supreme Clip of the Sale awards are judged: branding and condition of wool packs; number of lines made; evenness of length; evenness of quality; skirting of the lines (free from sweat and necks); number of bales and pieces; oddment preparation including lambs; classer specification (what information is provided to allow Elders to put forward the clip to the best possible advantage); number of bulk class bales and number of overweight bales.
This year awards were handed out by Elders wool team members Jeff Brennan, Tim Burgess, Michael Fairclough, Tony Alosi, Breanna Hayes, Stuart Matthews, Murray Drage and Alice Wilsdon to producers from 36 districts across the State, ranging from Esperance to Rawlinna to Southern Cross to Dongara.
Among the list of award recipients, there were 22 returning award winners, a reflection of the consistency of quality produced by the woolgrowers in the room.
Elders zone general manager-west, James Cornish gave the official welcome speech recognising and congratulating the efforts of the woolgrowers, classers and Elders staff.
"This is one of our favourite evenings on the Elders calendar," Mr Cornish said.
Mr Cornish noted the event was attended by a great group of people each year, but joked it always tended to be more enjoyable after some rain.
"The general rains we've seen recently have been incredible and it comes at a time when it's hard to remember when agriculture has been in a more positive position," Mr Cornish said.
"The average sheep price as of today is sitting at about $121 which is just incredible and a brilliant result for our farmers, up about $10-$15 on this time last year.
"Cattle are making about $1000 (average) at the moment which is very similar to this time last year which is another great result as well.
"And when we look to wool, the average price per bale to date is about $2200, which is still up by $180 on the same time last year.
"All of that is with the lowest interest rates and I can't remember a time when commodities were this strong at the same time as interest rates being so low."
During his address Mr Cornish touched on the hiccups experienced by the live export trade recently.
"We can't drop the ball on standards but we've got some time now to demonstrate the value of the trade which is a good thing," Mr Cornish said.
"Looking more specifically to wool, yes, the price has dropped and production around Australia is down about 12 per cent, which is largely due to the extremely dry year in the Eastern States.
"Across WA, production is down 8-9pc, with a lot of sheep in the northern and eastern areas of WA exiting the system.
"For prices generally, the key issue is a bit of uncertainty with China a very important market for us, buying about 80pc of the Australian wool clip."
Mr Cornish said the quality of wool was impacting prices.
"In the east, they are having issues with yield, strength and length of their wool which is having an impact," he said.
"But the good news is that things are looking very positive in the long term.
"All of our analysts are saying there is no reason for wool prices to drop any further which is obviously very positive and bodes well for us in the medium term."
Mr Cornish rounded out his speech by acknowledging the Elders staff and thanking their clients.
"We're very proud of the hard work and dedication demonstrated by the Elders team which will no doubt see another great year for us here in the west," he said.
"Particularly to the staff in our wool store, I'd like to recognise their efforts and resilience over the past couple of weeks and for their work to put together this evening's event.
"To the Elders clients, many of whom do more than just their wool business with us, our business was founded on wool 180 years ago so we really value and appreciate your clip.
"We're also delighted to have the classers here because we think it's important to recognise the work they do for the international reputation of our wool.
"Congratulations to you all."
Along with receiving a certificate to recognise their win, this year the growers also received a 100 per cent wool scarf with their brand/clip name embroided on it.
