Key innovation and market updates at Merino meeting

Stud breeders, commercial growers, industry associates and key stakeholders gave attendees the opportunity to gain insights directly from Merino industry trailblazers.

It aimed to inspire, inform and connect about 60 industry members.

There were seven guest speakers, discussing a wide range of topics from fashion to feed and all things in between and Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) board member Neil Jackson answered questions.

SMBAWA president, Michael Campbell, presented committee member and Billandri Poll Merino stud co-principal, Bill Sandilands, Kendenup, with association life membership and also awarded former blade shearer, shearing contractor, Merino stud breeder and wool industry stalwart, Ron Niven, with an honorary associate membership.

Global trends that are shaping the market for Australian wool were a key focus for AWI in its research and subsequent targeted marketing campaigns was the topic of the keynote speaker.

Changing perceptions of Merino wool and a desire to understand provenance and sustainability are all part of the fibre and fashion industry's environmental passport.

In her first ever visit to Perth, AWI/Woolmark general manager marketing and communications, Laura Armstrong, said everything was about perception and embracing the natural fibre and its eco benefits.

"There is a focus on corporate due diligence," Ms Armstrong said.

"A close look at the full supply chain and environmental footprint is what is happening in international fashion markets.

"Sustainability is not currently a financial lever, but in the future it will be.

"This future will see Gen Z make up 30 per cent of the workforce and a products reputation is important.

"From where we stand wool is a marketer's dream - natural fibre, quality, sustainability and clean/green image.

"I am acutely aware that this optimism is not shared on farm with the current prices and I wish that I could do something to directly influence this price and increase it, but I can't because there are a lot of significant macro factors affecting the price of wool."

She said the collaboration with Prada - the most popular and recogniseable fashion brand in the world - as part of the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli sailing team, was an absolute boon for Merino wool active/sportswear.

The Livestock Collective project co-ordinator, Marion Lewis, stepped in to replace managing director, Holly Ludeman who was unavailable.

Ms Lewis introduced herself and gave a brief introduction of the organisation and showed a short live export vessel virtual reality tour.

"The Livestock Collective is a not for profit organisation," Ms Lewis said.

"We share real stories and voices from the live export supply chain in an endeavour to provide insight and clarity into the industry."

She encouraged members to share their videos and facts from their social media pages.

Ms Lewis gave a quick overview of some of the collaborations The Livestock Collective was currently undertaking with organisations such as AWI.

The Merino Polo principal, Steve Noa gave an impassioned speech on his desire to make the humble Merino polo a staple in every Australian's wardrobe.

He said the more businesses and people that purchased them, the more the word got out there and the more people would start to wear.

"My journey with wool started over 35 years ago," Mr Noa said.

"I have had the privilege of travelling the world and seeing all aspects of the wool industry."

He said his aim when creating the business was to promote Australian Merino wool.

"My motivation is driven out of the want to infiltrate the market that will consume our commercially grown Merino wool that makeup the majority of bales in Australia," Mr Noa said.

"Namely that 18-19 micron fleece wool.

"When I say consume, I mean consume huge amounts of wool, year-on-year - on-year."

He said wool was particularly susceptible to volatility.

Mr Noa hopes to get business, schools and sporting clubs to get onboard and buy Merino polos.

Merino Lifetime Productivity (MLP) project geneticist, Dr Bronwyn Clarke, presented some of the standout facts that they had collated as part of the MLP.

"We had five sites around Australia," Ms Clarke said.

"Pingelly here in WA finished around eight months ago, but we still have sheep left on site to get the data from.

"We have found that as far as genetic traits go, clean fleece weight only requires one measurement to get an accurate average for the flock.

"However, reproduction has a very low heredity."

Ms Clarke said within MERINOSELECT the top 40pc of rams were from WA, and of these the top 30pc for wool and meat traits were from WA.

The University of Western Australia lead scientist, Dr Zoey Durmic spoke of the benefits of Agolin, an essential oil feed additive being studied to test its effectiveness in reducing methane production in animals.

Ms Durmic said Agolin was made up of coriander and wild carrot extracts.

The winning combination of productivity gains that by themselves make a compelling case for using Agolin.

"In addition, what is quite unique is the reliable and persistent abatement of methane by a certified 10pc from ruminants," Ms Durmic said.

Other benefits also include: 4-5pc more milk, 4-7pc better feed conversion, efficiency and weight gain, lower ammonia waste indicators of 3-6c/head/day cost for 300-600kg animals, so very modest cost to implement, and that investment is returned many times over in productivity.

Agolin is a tool that any one in the sector can employ right now if they want that unique combination of affordable methane abatement and proven productivity returns.

Incidentally Ms Durmic was a past Lefroy Fellowship recipient.

WA Shearing Industry Association president Darren Spencer, gave an industry update on shearer and wool handler training, including a successful industry day at Rhodes Pastoral, Boyup Brook and the Ambassador program that involves shearers Ethan Harder and Ethan Gellatly.

"We also reached out to some schools," Mr Spencer said.

"We got a fantastic response, with Lake Grace having nine kids that wanted to do wool handler training."

He said they broke it up over two days and age groups, but the kids all had fun.

Mr Spencer touched on shed safety and the Safety Culture app.

"To finish, I think it's important to note that communication is the key," he said.

"You need to head down to your shed and have a chat with the team, just say G'day and acknowledge each other."

Australian Wool Innovation national manager, wool harvesting, Craig French gave an update on the AWI wool handler training and explained the WA Wool Tag committee's importance.

He said industry funding was set at $10.5 million over three years for the wool handler training and they were currently 20 months into the project.

"This training is important as the industry loses around 8-10pc per year through injury," Mr French said.

He said so far 1648 people had been trained across Australia with a goal of 2000.

In WA there had been 241 so far.