SHIPMENTS: The first shipments of Tasmanian wool to a German manufacturer of high-end sports gear have been sent, in what has become a lucrative contract for a handful of wool producers.
The farmers are receiving a premium price for their wool, which is good news in a sometimes-volatile wool market. For Will Bennett the deal to supply German adventure wear company Ortovox gave his farming business security.
“It helps us plan for the future and we’ve decided to stick with merinos and now we can put even more emphasis on the breeding of these sheep and produce more wool,” he said. Stories of historic Tasmanian wool operations are a winning marketing tool, in the highly competitive European market.
“They love the family farm situation, I suppose, and the country here that we’ve got, the way we look after our sheep,” Mr Bennett said. One of the key considerations is the fact the suppliers do not ‘mules’ the sheep. Mulesing is where wool-bearing skin is cut from a young sheep’s rear to prevent flystrike.
Many sheep producers say mulesing is a necessary animal management technique, but animal rights activists argue it is cruel and alternatives are viable. The German company has sent teams of people to visit the five Tasmanian suppliers of non-mulesed wool.
“This is what our end consumers demand from Ortovox to provide this, and to guarantee that this is non-mulesed wool,” said a company spokesman. Alistair Calvert negotiated the Ortovox deal and he said there was a lot of interest for Tasmania’s wool from high-end niche markets.
“To look at longer term sustainable prices I think we need to get closer to the end user and the consumer and with an approach like this, that is what we do,” he said. Ortovox is buying 30 tonne of Tasmanian wool a year, but plans to increase that to 90 tonne a year.
