Prickle factor in crossbred wool just a matter of genetics

By Glenys Christian

Over the gate

Adding value to agricultural products isn't just about branding and packaging.

It often involves a fundamental rethink of what is being produced, tough decisions about where strengths really lie and a good dose of gloom-dispelling optimism.

Dannevirke farmer Ross Orr has a simple philosophy - sheep have to be shorn, so farmers might as well produce a quality fleece.

Drawing on his background in analytical chemistry, he has for the past seven years been laser-scanning fleeces from most of the 6500 Romney sheep he runs.

He is seeking to transfer the advantage fine wool growers have gained by reducing micron variation in their clip to the crossbred sector.

Merino growers have managed to banish the coarse fibres from their wool, reducing the prickle factor that made it uncomfortable to wear next to the skin and so moved it into the luxury category.

Mr Orr's thinking is that if variation in micron, which is highly inheritable, can be reduced, crossbred wool could also take on a new range of uses.

And so the painstaking task of side sampling and testing 4000 wool samples was begun, with Wrightson's Wool analysing the results.

It found that in an average coarse-wool fleece of 37 microns the diameter of the fibres could vary from 15 to 80 microns, with variability ranging from 16 per cent to 28 per cent.

Not being afraid to take a punt on these results, Mr Orr has this year used artificial insemination on 2000 of his stud ewes to jump-start the spread of the genes of four rams showing a small micron variation.

A recent shipment of 33 bales of hogget wool to a European mill, which will be used in the manufacture of interior textiles rather than finishing up in carpets, as crossbred wool usually does, is providing the proof he needs that he is on the right track.

And he believes farmers who buy his rams will also get a spinoff effect, giving them a real reward for their hard work in the shearing shed.

Bay of Plenty Fertiliser subsidiary Super Air saw an opportunity instead of a problem in the same way as this forward-looking woolgrower.

Its fleet of nine topdressing planes are busy over spring and autumn when pilots put in most of their 800 hours' annual flying time.

But in the summer offseason they and their $500,000 aircraft are underemployed. The answer has been to make the 16-hour flight to Australia and find work sowing rice seed.

General manager Mike Keen says the company has a competitive advantage with its Fletcher aircraft - fitted with Walter turbines made in the Czech Republic - in the skies at half of the cost of topdressing planes used across the Tasman.

This allows pricing which sneaks the work out from under Australian noses.

* Glenys Christian's e-mail address is glenys@farmindex.co.nz