Promising prospects for Waimarino wool growers

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 540, 14 June 1994, Page 6

Promising prospects for Waimarino wool growers

By

Dennis

Beytagh

Prospects for local sheep farmers in both the sheep meat and wool markets look very promising through to the year 2000, according to Bruce Jans, director of the New Zealand Meat Producers Board and to Pat Morrison, chairman of the Wool Board. Thirty local sheep farmers heard the good news when they attended a meeting chaired by John McCarthy of Ohakune at the Waimarino RS A club rooms in Raetihi on Friday 3 June. Also on the panel was Dr Ken Geenty of the New Zealand Wool Board' s Palmerston North division who confirmed this opinion when he introduced a new 64-page publication entitled ' A Guide to Feed Planning for Sheep Farmers' which is now available free. Dr Geenty explained that the purpose of the booklet was to enable sheep farmers to continuously assess the condition of their flocks by referring to the feed planning and management charts. Feed ffeed-back "Unlike their dairy farming colleagues who can assess the condition of their herds on a day-to-day basis through milk production, sheep farmers don' t have the immediate feed-back barometer of their flock's performance," he said. 'Taking off too much condition from ewes in winter before mating can have quite disasterous consequences on the lartibing season so it is important for the sheep farmer to have the ability to check on their flocks on an on-going basis."

Mr Jans said while overseas stocks of sheep meat products had been very high in the past these are now dropping and with this year's killing season almost over (only four million to go) sheep farmers can expect a better return next season and through to the end of the century. "The beef kill was also down by 67,000 (6%) which leaves the whole beef market looking a bit 'wobbly' at the moment," he said. The New Zealand Meat Producers Board was also taking steps to ensure the quality of sheepmeat both for the overseas and domestic markets through the introduction of the 'Accelerated Aging and Condition (AC & A)' process. Quality concems Five years ago the reputation of New Zealand lamb and mutton in overseas markets was "at the bottom of the pile" but things have greatly improved in recent years though the quality of sheepmeat on the domestic market was still giving cause for concern, he said. In New Zealand quality is still a problem largely because of illegal abbatoirs and the Meat Board is now looking at putting their seals of approval on all mutton and lamb sold through major retail outlets. He said the local market was important because tourists wanted to try traditional dishes and they would remember the quality when they got home. In reply to questions from the floor as to how the levies paid by farmers are used Mr Jans said it was of vital importance for New Zealand to create and

maintain a generic image of quality lamb and mutton in overseas markets and this could only be done by a comprehensive advertising campaign promoting New Zealand sheepmeats. He said the future looked very promising through to 2000 with growing markets in Asia and the Middle East. Wool has future New Zealand Wool Board chairman Pat Morrison said he too saw a promising future for sheep farmers though recent years had been "quite disastrous" owing to overstocked stockpiles of wool in the world markets. "These stockpiles are now reducing at the same time that demand for cross-bred wools is increasing," he said. As an example he quoted the American carpet industry where they produce up to 50 percent of all carpets in the world. The trend had been towards synthetic yams with the result that the wool use had been reduced to only one percent." "However, the trend has now moved back towards wool and is presently 2 per cent ...and if that dosen't sound very much let me tell you that if the wool content in America ever reached eight per cent they would absorb our entire wool clip." He said wealthier Americans are buying wool carpet. As another example, he said 80 percent of Nepal's entire income is derived from hand-knot-ted carpets and, because New Zealand can guarantee the consistency of length in cross-bred wools,

Nepal depends almost exclusively on our wools. New fabric Because of wool' s natural fire-resistance major airlines are now replacing their synthetic carpet and upholstery with a newly developed product known as Treotek which contains a high proportion of cross-bred wools. It is also lighter to allow for as many as 2-3 extra paying passengers on board some of the larger aircraft. The New Zealand Wool Board would continue to spend money on research and development of new wool products through the Christchurch-based Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand. "We get continuous input and feedback from our six overseas representatives in Japan, the US, United Kingdom and Europe who all predict a good future for wool in the next few years." He said producers' levies go towards research and development as well as the promotion of wool through what is probably the world's best known trademark: the International Wool Secretariat's 'Woolmark' symbol. Mr Morrison agreed that, because of the isolation of some sheep farmers, it was sometimes difficult to get information about new products, market trends, research, development and end uses of wool to them. He suggested that one of the three television channels should screen an 'Agriculture Hour' programme early on Sunday mornings to inform New Zealand farmers about developments and trends within their industry.