SEVEN years of planning and breeding plain-bodied Dohne Merinos came to fruition last Thursday for Stephanie Penn, her husband Gavin and father Russell Lockyer, Treehaven, Bolgart.
Their first wool clip certified under Organica Precious Fibre protocols sold at auction for premiums of between five per cent and 7pc above market values at the Western Wool Centre (WWC), purchased by the export division of Westcoast Wools & Livestock on behalf of Chargeurs Luxury Materials.
The Penns, who manage Treehaven and owner Mr Lockyer were at the WWC for their first visit to see their first Organica clip of 46 bales from an early September shearing of 2200 Dohne Merinos go under the hammer.
Three lots of declared non-mulesed adult Dohne Merino fleece wool averaging 19.2 microns, 95 millimetre staple length, 34N/kt staple strength and with a yield of 65pc sold for an average of 1170 cents per kilogram greasy (about 1837c/kg clean).
A fourth line of 16.7 micron hoggets' fleece wool with statistics of 76mm staple length, 22N/kt and 67.3pc yield, sold to a bid of 1249c/kg greasy (1856c/kg clean), the then top price at a relatively early stage of the day's auctions.
"Treehaven has been working towards a goal for the past seven years and with what they were able to achieve today the Organica branding is starting to pay off for them," said Justin Haydock, Westcoast Wools & Livestock's Organica Precious Fibre specialist, after the sale.
Mr Haydock inspected Treehaven farm last year to ensure the Penns' operation complied with the declared non-mulesed, ethical sheep management and fully-traceable requirements of the Organica specialist wools program.
The Penns did not have to change the way they farmed to meet certification requirements, but did have to put up more safety signs - also part of the Organica process related to ethical farming.
Global textiles group Chargeurs launched its Organica Precious Fibre brand in 2017, responding to premium European manufacturer demands for supply chain transparency to support 'natural fibre' wool promotions and to try to isolate niche market segments from growing animal welfare activistm targeting some animal husbandry practises.
Much of the Organica wool ends up as technical yarn for fashion and outdoor wear.
A third-party audit of Treehaven's Organica compliance is due to be carried out this week.
Ms Penn, a Victoria Plains Shire councillor, explained how they became involved with the Organica program.
"I had this idea that I'd like to market our wool so I contacted Brad (Brad Faithful, Westcoast Wools & Livestock country division director and auctioneer) because we'd been dealing with Brad and he'd been to our property before and seen how we operate," Ms Penn said.
"I explained what I wanted to do and Brad said he thought Westcoast Wools might have something for us with Organica.
"Yes, we wanted premium prices for our wool, but there was more to it than just that, I really am interested in us telling our story of where our wool comes from - I've been reading a lot about it (electronic supply chain identification and woolgrower stories at the finished garment point of sale)," she said.
The Penns mate 1500 Dohne Merino ewes each year and retain 500-550 hoggets every year.
A year of first for them, this year was also the first time they did not have to buy in extra sheep, having bred all they needed with a 114 per cent lambing rate.
They also run a small flock of black faced Suffolk crossbreds to generate cash flow from lamb sales about two months earlier than their Dohne Merino lambs are ready for sale.
The Penns and Mr Lockyer have been working closely with Jeremy Genders, Noorla Dohnes stud, Williams, for the seven years they have been on Treehaven.
They have bought rams off Mr Genders from the beginning.
"Jeremy comes up and classes hoggets and new lambs for us in April," Ms Penn said.
"We do two lines, one which we put the Dohne rams across and one we put the black faced Suffolks across.
"What we've been paying particular attention to was the backs, so when the ewes are pregnant they can carry right through and that they're nice and plain, hence we were happy to move towards non mulesing.
"Last year when we brought the lambs in we could see that we had got to where we wanted to be and we didn't need to mules any more.
"When we tail now we put Clik - and there are other fly control products out there - in the cradle and put the lambs in it and then also spray them afterwards.
"That helps us (avoid flystrike issues) when we come to shear.
"But what we've been able to do with a Dohne in regards to cease mulesing - they're very plain anyway - I don't know that you could do it with a pure Merino," she said.
Mr Penn said timing of crutching and shearing was "critical" to avoiding flystrike and any sheep that showed a susceptibility to flystrike was culled in case it carried through to the lamb.
"You have to be right on it without mulesing," he said.
The Penns also pointed out co-operation from their shearing contractor - they use Peter Jokich, Northam - was required to meet Organica certification.
"The shearing contractor has to sign a contract about the way the sheep will be treated and any nick that needs stitching up or anything like that has to be recorded - the wool classer was doing that," Mr Penn said.
The Penns said they had been told by other farmers their non-mulesed sheep and lambs would not bring as much at the saleyard, but that did not deter them.
"When you look at where the wool industry as a whole is heading and with marketing of wool in particular and what's happening in countries like New Zealand, we think it's better to make the change earlier rather than later and to reap the extra value in the wool for longer," Ms Penn said.
"Based on today's results, we're happy with that," she said.
Through Westcoast Wools & Livestock, Chargeurs Luxury Materials also purchased fleece wools for its Organica program from Binnu farmer Don Nairn at the WWC last Thursday.
Mr Nairn put up 30 bales of declared non-mulesed wool averaging 18.5 micron, 80mm staple length, 38N/kt staple strength and 60pc yield which sold to a top of 1240c/kg greasy.
The Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) premium and discount report for last Thursday's trading at the WWC listed premiums paid for declared non-mulesed (NM) wools at 46c/kg for 18 micron, 38c/kg for 19 micron and 20c/kg for 20 micron wools.
Declared mulesed with pain relief (PR) wools achieved premiums of 2c/kg for 19 micron and 3c/kg for 20 micron wool compared to prices for equivalent undeclared wools, the AWEX report said.
