In what’s been described as a “Merino club”, does the Australian wool industry’s research, development and marketing body, Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), do enough to support broad woolgrowers?
It’s a question that’s been on the lips of Corriedale breeders for some time, and while they were relieved to see breed representatives on AWI’s Industry Consultative Committee (ICC) and WoolPoll panel in recent years, many believe there is still room for improvement.
Darryl MacDonald, who runs Australia’s oldest Corriedale stud, Fairburn, Porcupine Ridge, said broad woolgrowers aren’t getting as much out of their two per cent levy as other wool producers.
“AWI promotes Merinos all the time, and I guess while promoting Merino wool, it promotes wool down the line and all other wools get a kick from it but it doesn’t directly help us,” Mr MacDonald said.
He said broad woolgrowers would benefit from promotion of the products made out of broad wool, like jumpers and socks.
Brenton Lush, Corriedale Hills, Inman Valley, SA, was the first Corriedale breeder to be on the ICC, and now sits on the WoolPoll panel.
“The reason I got involved with AWI about 10 years ago was that everything we heard up until that point was about Merinos, so all of us outside the Merino industry were saying ‘hang on, we don’t want our levies going towards promoting a product that’s not our own’,” Mr Lush said.
He said since then, the line of communication between AWI and Corriedale breeders has opened up, meaning AWI was being held more accountable for its involvement in promoting the breed.
He said the research and development invested in by AWI has supported woolgrowers of many breeds, including the Lifetime Ewe Management course, and wild dog management.
“Wild dogs aren’t fussed with what breed of sheep they eat,” he said.
He said calls for broad woolgrowers to pay a smaller levy amount than the current two per cent paid by all breeders were impractical.
“You can’t have a levy that changes at different microns, the paperwork would be a nightmare,” he said.
Nick Cole, Stanbury Corriedales, Camperdown, who is now an ICC member, said broad woolgrowers are getting their “bang for buck”, but in promotion overseas, not in Australia.
“The AWI does support the Prince’s Trust in England, which is predominantly broad wool, so the breed is well-known overseas, but not as much here,” Mr Cole said.
He said while Australia was not where the majority of promotion was needed, it would still be worthwhile to invest in making the name more well-known locally.
Australian Corriedale Association vice president, Bron Ellis, Sweetfield Corriedales, Mount Moriac, said AWI needs to be held accountable for its involvement.
“It might be hard for AWI to do more for the broader wools when Merinos are the biggest breed in the country but we’ve got as much right to get our point across as they do,” Ms Ellis said.
NSW Corriedale Association president, Tony Manchester, Roseville Corriedales, Kingsvale, NSW, said while he was pleased with AWI’s representation of the industry, maybe broad woolgrowers should pay less than fine woolgrowers.
“I’m a great supporter of AWI and what they’re doing but maybe the levy fee is a bit high and could go down,” Mr Manchester said.
What does AWI do?
AWI corporate communications manager Marius Cuming said growing wool is hard work, and the industry body’s job is to make this slightly easier.
Mr Cuming told a group of Corriedale breeders at the recent World Corriedale Congress in Bendigo that AWI does this through research, development and extension.
He said the Lifetime Ewe Management course has been the most successful extension program in the history of the industry, and has benefited woolgrowers of many breeds.
He said training shearers, and investing in robotic shearing research, will also benefit Corriedale breeders.
He also said the Wool Exchange Portal will enable Corriedale breeders to better market their wool.