Tarrington woolgrowers the Linke family sell four 1PP wool bales in Elders first

Everard Linke and his son, Matt Linke, sold the four bales of 1PP superfine wool on Thursday - and are believed to be the first clients of Elders to offer four bales of the highest-quality wool in a single sale.

What makes the Linke's story even more unique is the fact the dynamic duo do everything themselves, from shearing to classing, pressing and even the marketing of their own wool.

"I thought producing four bales of 1PP wool wouldn't be possible," Everard said.

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The accreditation of 1PP wool is facilitated by the Australian Wool Exchange and must meet a lengthy list of strict criteria to be recognised among the country's best-quality fleece.

The wool must be 16.9 micron or finer, contain 1 per cent of vegetable matter or less, be at least 70 millimetres in length - unless the wool is significantly finer - and exhibit superlative quality, style and soundness and be prepared in the best possible manner.

Approval for 1PP certification is stringent and carried out by an industry panel made up of five members who, according to AWEX, have "exceptional knowledge and experience in the area of superfine wools".

"1PP certificates do not attempt to recognise the highest price, but the highest level of achievement in the pursuit to grow the highest quality wool in the world," AWEX said.

The bales are classed within 5mm of length variation in each bale.

Trading as EM & ME Linke, the pair averaged 16.2 micron in their paddock-grown Merino flock clip at Tarrington, nine kilometres south-east of Hamilton.

The pair sold 64 bales on Thursday, including two pre-arranged contract bales to Vitale Barberis Canonico for $4646 (16.1 micron) and $4620 (16.4 micron).

In total, VBC bought about 15 contact bales from the Linkes.

High-end Italian retailer Loro Piana also bought two bales of 15.6 and 15.7 micron wool for $3500.

It was not the first time the pair had offered a bale or two of 1PP wool.

Last year they sold three bales and upped the ante last Thursday in what Elders described as a milestone moment.

"The 1PP bales are the best of the best," Elders wool selling centres manager Simon Hogan said.

"I can never recall four of these bales from the same woolgrower being sold at one sale during my time working here in Melbourne.

"You might get one or two accredited 1PP bales on the odd occasion, but I've never seen four bales."

The Linke's operation includes 2400 Glenara Merino-blood mixed-sex sheep.

"We've been getting our rams from the Mibus family at Dunkeld for about 45 years now," Everard said.

The family's venture into 1PP certification started in 2009 when one of their long-term wool buyers, Andrew Raeber from New England Wool at the time, began promoting the benefits of the sought-after fleece.

Mr Raeber now manages Vitale Barberis Canonico in Australia, a company which Everard said has given the pair confidence to produce wool through forward-pledging contracts.

"Andy was the one who coached us on classing our wool on what companies wanted, it helped us fine tune," he said.

Mr Raeber said the Linke family had a number of factors which made their wool attractive, including high standards and traditional bloodlines.

"It's fantastic and magnificent wool," he said.

"VBC buys wool for its parent company in Italy which makes high-end fabric for men's suiting so we seek a very particular type of wool.

"We're also after more traditional bloodlines which gives us a good fabric."

About five years ago, VBC invited a handful of woolgrowers to an excellence club to source Saxon bloodline wool.

"Over the last 20 or 30 years, a lot of woolgrowers have lost the attributes of the wool we were chasing," Mr Raeber said.

"Depending on the market, woolgrowers in the club can make an average of between 15-20pc above the auction market rate."

Two of the 1PP bales sold were from two-year-old Merinos, while two other bales were from Merino wethers aged three to five years.

In the past 12 months, the Linkes have phased out mulesing to achieve better market competition.

Matt said the certification came down to hard work and consistent care throughout the whole woolgrowing process, from the time of joining, through to shearing, classing and pressing.

"You have to be careful when you're shearing, classing and skirting to get it up to the one standard and a nice even style," he said.

"We share all the final classing but I do all the skirting work on the table and dad shears the 3000 head which includes lambs."

Everard said shearing his own sheep gave him more control over the final product.

"You can have the wool you want," he said.

"If you're shearing, you can cull the wool as you go so if there's something there you're not sure of, or don't like to breed from, you can mark it out."

The family's association with Glenara at Dunkeld started in 1972 when Everard's father, Mervyn, bought a selection of rams through a private sale.

"Since about 2000 we've been micron testing and sorted our clip out a bit so we've done the best with what we've got by targeting the Italian spinners market," Everard said.

The recognition was a combination of patience, and coaching from wool buyers like Mr Raeber.

"When we classed each bale, we only had one bale open at a time and put that together and then we went onto the next bale - we didn't compare the whole lot," Everard said.

"We finish shearing in early February and then we go back in early April and start classing which takes about three weeks and it might take a day or more to go through a bale so we don't press it straight away."

Elders Hamilton district wool manager Andrew Howells said the accreditation was "significant recognition" for the countless weeks the Linkes devoted to growing and preparing their wool for sale.

"It's almost like an engineering feat or a super jigsaw," he said.

"Each fleece from the Linke's operation is rolled up and put in a general bin depending on the fleece type, soundness and length.

"The standard they set for each bit of wool to be accepted into those lines is huge."

Mr Howells said demand for superfine wool which met Responsible Wool Standards guidelines was strong.

"The Europeans are looking for that higher-end quality, combined with RWS and non-mulesed, so there's good premiums for those types of wools, particularly in Europe," he said.