A HAMILTON district woolgrower has been the latest producer to achieve 1PP classification, seen as the "best of the best" by buyers from the Australian Wool Exchange.
The Linke family, Tarrington, last week sold two bales of 1PP classification wool grown on Glenholme, Dunkeld, through Elders in Melbourne.
The first bale, lot 1, weighed 107 kilograms and was sold for 3458 cents/kg while the second, lot 3, weighed 157kg and fetched 3217c/kg.
"With the market that's there we will try again," Everard Link said.
"We know what the styles are, we just have to have the right season," Everard Linke said.
The first bale was cut from two-year-old wethers while the second was from two-year-old ewes; both were un-rugged.
Lot 1 had a micron of 15.9, yield of 78.6 per cent, length of 82 millimetres and strength of 49 Newtons per kilotex and comfort value (CV) of seven per cent, while lot 3 had a micron of 16, yield of 75.70, length of 77mm, strength of 40 Nkt and 11pc CV.
Both were from Glenara Merino bloodlines, which Mr Linke said the family had been using for 42 years.
He said they had been working towards a 1PP classification for one of the bales "but we didn't know we had the second one".
"We use biological fertiliser on the pastures and the season helped with the nutrition the sheep are getting," Mr Linke said.
The sheep were run on native pasture, which meant less dirt and dust and a cleaner fleece.
Elders Hamilton district wool manager Andrew Howells said the emergence of the bales was "very exciting".
"We might not have seen it for 10 years or more - it's a long time," Mr Howells said.
"It's very, very rare."
Both bales were bought by Successori Reda wool buyer Andrew Raeber, New England Wool, as part of the Reda 150 project.
"They will be going to our shareholder in Italy which is celebrating its 150th anniversary," Mr Raeber said.
He said the company was encouraging growers to produce superfine wool and now had about 90 bales towards a planned total of 150.
The wool would be made into men's suiting.
"We're reasonably confident we will get the bales.
"It runs until the end of this year and there are some more sales to come up north in the Goulburn and Yass (NSW) area."
He said he spoke with the Linkes and encouraged them to try for 1PP wool.
"It's a matter of identifying it at shearing time, encouraging him to give it a go.
"He did and has done a really good job."
Mr Raeber said the wool was of a traditional type with a "fantastic bloom" and excellent crimp definition.
"It is the best of the best."
While 1PP wool was still not very common, three years ago there was virtually none, he said.
"The financial encouragement wasn't there but we got a really good price in our contract and there was a financial benefit for the grower there - in the second year there was a huge increase."
