Merino breeders are faced with the challenge of attracting young people to the industry, responding to changing consumer trends in terms of meat and fibre, and arresting the decline of the national Merino flock.
Their peak representative body, the Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders (AASMB), represents one thousand registered Merino and Poll Merino studs across Australia. Stock & Land's Dannika Bonser sat down with the new AASMB president Georgina Wallace to discuss these challenges and her vision for the industry's future.
Q: You're at the beginning of your first term as Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders (AASMB) president – what changes would you like to effect in the three-year period?
A: I'd like to see better exposure and promotion for our members which number approximately 1000 studs across the nation. I'd also like to see the increase of Merino sheep numbers nationally, especially ewe numbers.
Q: You ran for the position unopposed – do you think there is a lack of people willing to take on these leadership roles?
A: No, on the contrary, I think there are a number of competent people on our national council that could perform the role well. It's just a matter of personal timing and the time was right for me.
Q: The importance of Merino ewes has been talked about a lot recently, what is your standpoint on where the ewe base is at? How do you specifically plan to arrest the decline in numbers with sheepmeat prices where they are?
A: The decline of Merino ewe numbers is a real concern to the AASMB. The association wants to promote the fact that a Merino operation can be very profitable, whether a Merino ewe is joined to a Merino sire or terminal sire for a first-cross operation. They are an 'All Purpose' breed that have terrific wool and carcase qualities.
Q: What advice would you give to commercial Merino producers looking at reinvigorating their ewe base?
A: I urge them to do their sums on a straight Merino operation or first-cross operation versus other operations such as cropping. I think they will be pleasantly surprised given current wool market prices.
Q: At the end of 2014, Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) estimated half of Australia's 73.9 million sheep were Merinos – where would you like to see those numbers in 10 years' time?
A: I would like to see a significant increase of at least 5 to 10 million Merino ewes in at least a five-year time frame. At present there are 25m Merino ewes across the nation, 10 years ago there were 38m.
Q: Many in the Merino industry are pursuing and marketing the breed as a 'dual-purpose' animal. After being elected you said it was critical for the AASMB to promote purely Merino operations. Can the Merino realistically compete with a mixed farm utilising prime lamb breeds that have significantly higher meat yield?
A: Yes, I think they can compete and are competing with prime lamb breeds. There are many Merino operations in South Australia and Western Australia that are profitable and selling their surplus lambs at comparable rates to prime lambs with the combination of good lambing percentages too. There are also many first-cross operations that are doing well too, but of course you have to have the Merino ewe to do this.
Q: Merinos as a breed have made quantum leaps in carcase size and meat yield – how much further can that go? Do you see a time where Merinos can yield similar amounts to traditional prime lamb breeds?
A: There is no doubt at present that the prime lamb yields more than the Merino by some 6 to 7 per cent, I think this gap is closing and in the near future there will be only a few per cent difference.
Q: Wool prices have seen a decent boost in recent times – the Eastern Market Indicator is well above 1350 cents currently and looking optimistic – do you see this price impacting the decision-making of producers yet?
A: I hope so. The realities are at present there has been a significant lift across all microns with the medium microns performing well. The market is at a four-year high and demand is equalling supply, this augurs well for the future and hopefully makes decision making for woolgrowers easier.
Q: Many woolgrowers are moving towards broadening their wool clips for the sake of quantity. What do you tell superfine growers who are trying to hold on to their fine micron wool?
A: There is no doubt that the ultrafine/superfine end of the market has been tough for a long while. There are many areas around the country that are only suitable for growing superfine wool and not much else. However, it is pleasing to see in the last eight weeks or so that that end of the market has lifted too, but it still has some way to go before being really profitable. My only advice to growers would be to try to lift their cut price per head to make their operation more profitable.
Q: Wool has been marketed in the last 5-10 years as a luxury product, mostly to overseas consumers. Do you think this is where wool's future is?
A: While the luxury end of the wool market is important, wool also has a broad appeal across all markets from knitwear to carpets, to furniture materials and active sports wear to name a few. That's the beautiful quality of wool, it's so versatile and should be marketed as such into the future.
Q: Do you support AWI's balance of 60/40 split of funding for marketing and R&D respectively?
A: I'd rather not answer this one as I'm currently on the WoolPoll committee, so I probably have a conflict of interest in commenting at this stage.
Q: The New England Wool company recently introduced a system to assure buyers of wool's environmental and welfare credentials. Do you think the greater wool industry needs to push this 'green fibre' angle in the future?
A: I think the whole wool industry, including the AASMB, needs to push the fact that wool is a clean, green fibre that is environmentally friendly and sustainable, and it has so many wonderful properties.
Q: One of agriculture's greatest dilemmas is how to attract young people onto the land – how is the Merino industry coping with this? Is enough being done?
A: While attracting young people to the land is a dilemma and more could always be done, there are many good programs being conducted through show societies and other organisations at present to encourage and mentor young people. There is the Young Stud Muster at the Bendigo Show, AWI's Merino Challenge and South Australia's national leadership course to name a few that all encourage and mentor young people.
Q: What is your stance on the mandatory electronic ID of sheep? Is it something the industry needs to pursue for biosecurity purposes, or is the paper-based system adequate?
A: In an ideal world it would be great to have all sheep electronically tagged, but at present the cost is prohibitive to many woolgrowers.
