Some of New Zealand's top exponents of the quite ancient craft of wool-classing will be in Napier next week for a field day, run by the New Zealand Wool Classers Association.
It will be held on Tuesday at the PGG Wrightson Wool Store, the New Zealand Wool Testing Authority andHawke's Bay Woolscourers, with about 50 people expected from the lower North Island.
Certification of New Zealand wool classers has been around for many years, with examples of education board involvement more than a century ago.
Wool classers sort wool into categories according to breed of sheep, age, colour, length and micron (fibre thickness), and may work in woolsheds or wool stores, ensuring removal of contamination and complete identification and documentation prior to sale.
Association executive officer Bruce Abbott, who has had about 50 years in the industry, holding a diploma in wool classing from Massey University and having worked in stores, woolsheds, scours and for the Wool Testing Authority, said contractors had been asked to get senior shed hands involved, along with the certificated wool classers who had reached the goal of a "Q" stencil - effectively the trademark of their expertise.
Waipawa classer Trish Moke, who was presented with the North Island wool classer merit award at the association's annual meeting, says it takes commitment to the task of studying, usually with the help of a good mentor, with experience across the range of breeds and wool types.
Classers come from a wide range of people, from the farming families to those growing up in the shearing industry, and she was lured by the prospect of better pay for the qualification, eventual less strenuous work and the "white coat" of the classer.
On the way there was plenty to do and watch, learning everyone's role, from shear to woolhandler, to cook, and to the needs of the contractor and the farmer.
