Wool less favoured for meat for some: Hill country NZ farmers invest in self-shedding sheep

Wiltshire and Nudies breeds don't grow wool which means farmers don't incur costs such as shearing.

By Penny Miles of RNZ

New Zealand’s market for strong wool is rising with a lower exchange rate driving crossbred fleece prices to eight-year highs.

But while the rise in the price of wool used to make carpet and insulation is a sign of renewed global interest in woollen carpets, hill country farmers are continuing to invest in sheep that don’t grow the fibre.

They’re called Wiltshires and Nudies.

That’s the situation facing farmers who are voting with their chequebooks by paying a premium for these new self-shedding breeds.

It’s an economic decision after years of carrying the cost of shearing.

At the same time, the horizon is slightly brighter for strong wool with a renewed interest in wool used in home interiors.

One New Zealand carpet manufacturer, Wools of New Zealand, has recently offered a landmark deal to its wool growers.

Chief executive John McWhirter said its monthly contracts of $5 per kilogram launched last month were a generous offer for coarse wool and reflected growing confidence in the market.

“Well, if you were getting $3 and now you’re getting $5 that’s a significant increase but farmers will always tell you that they need more and I understand that but it’s certainly a massive step forward,” McWhirter said.

Moves afoot for natural flooring seen in Europe

Wools of New Zealand's global marketing manager Steven Parsons says consumers are turning from microplastics to natural fibres. Photo / Alex Cairns

The company’s global marketing manager Steven Parsons said in Europe, where he’s based, there was an ongoing shift towards natural flooring.

Consumers were turning away from microplastics to natural fibres, and bare wooden floorboards and the Scandinavian plank look might have reached their peak.

“I think people are starting to realise that they want to be comfortable and sit on the floor and for it not to be cold and hard,” he said.

The ability of the New Zealand carpet industry to keep up with the latest colour trends and market their premium products to customers eager for natural products were other factors.

Wools of New Zealand has been using the catchy tagline, “carpets that don’t cost the Earth”.

Parsons said they have been working on a number of innovations to enhance product quality and to bring new styles to the market.

He believed his wool brand was growing fast with several new partners.

“2025 is going to be a big year for us both in New Zealand and in our export markets,” he said.

And one thing he was certain about was that grey carpet was on the way out.

“Here in Europe, we’re seeing that phase out very quickly. Warmer colours are coming in. The chocolate browns, caramel browns, soft greens, olive greens and autumnal shades are coming in.”

Imported genetics

A flock of Wiltshires.

Back on Whanganui, fifth-generation sheep breeder Kate Kellick’s hill country farm near Mangamahu, the market for breeding stock tells a different story.

At her family’s Tokorangi breeding operation they’ve dedicated 14 years to sheep that don’t grow wool, with imported genetics from Exlana sheep in the United Kingdom crossed with Wiltshires.

That’s paid off with their top-priced ram selling for a record $8000 at auction last month.

She said it was a combination of low wool prices and increased labour costs which enticed farmers to go for breeds that were all about producing meat with less labour.

There was no shearing and less dagging.

“They’re totally for producing meat, there’s no shearing, dagging and crutching. We don’t even dock our ones,” Kellick said.

“The workload is about 60 per cent less than a wool-bred sheep.”

Across the range in the Wairarapa, longtime Wairere breeder Derek Daniell’s shedding rams have sold for almost $5000.

That’s more than double the price of traditional Romney stock.

“We as a ram breeding outfit, we have imported over the last three years sheep that don’t grow wool at all,” he said.

“We call them Nudies.

“They just grow a hair coat like a deer or a horse.”

He said hill country farmers were hurting, with 90% running at a loss in the last financial year — and that meant a need to eliminate the cost of shearing.

He believed a price of $10 per kilogram was what was required to bring wool out of the doldrums.

‘So lovely and so soft’ - wool carpet fan

But some consumers were still prepared to pay a premium for the feel of wool under their feet.

Wellington homeowner Anne Jolly said she couldn’t be happier with the decision she made to go for carpet off the sheep’s back.

She went for Wools of New Zealand carpet in an economical 4 metres width, meaning some rooms could be laid with a single piece of carpet with no joins or seams.

“It’s so luxurious, so lovely and so soft, and now I’m constantly in bare feet,” she said.

That’s music to the ears of PGG Wrightson general manager for wool Rachel Shearer, who said last week’s auction in Napier saw prices exceed $4 for strong wool.

She said even leftovers were going up in price.

Declining sheep numbers are also pulling up the price of strong wool.

The country’s flock keeps falling as more farms are converted to forestry.

Stats NZ’s latest stock survey showed sheep numbers fell to 23 million sheep in the year to June, down from the peak of 70m in the early 1980s.

Shearer advised farmers to lock in contracts as reduced volumes and lower sheep numbers brought renewed hope a tipping point for the sector might now be within reach.

- RNZ