With the Merino wool and mutton markets breaking to higher ground in recent weeks it’s fascinating to watch the mental calculators at work at sheep sales especially when lots are being offered with six months or more of fleece thrown into a deal as a lure.
Working the assumption the average Merino ewe should cut 5.5kg of fleece wool on a 12 month shearing (after rearing her lamb) it would be easy to assume at 1450c/kg greasy any decent half-wool 20 micron fleece should return $40-$45 net of shearing costs.
But with the mutton market nearing 500c/kg, and a half-wool Merino skins quoted at $23-$25 the dilemma of whether to sell cast for age lines hot-shorn or with a jacket poses a pleasant problem worth contemplating.