New England wool producers, brokers and contractors gathered in Glen Innes this week to evaluate the results of a ‘genetic’ program that has the potential to lift the productivity of the wool industry.
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Armidale’s Allflex Sheep Business Manager, Jim Meckiff said the four year experiment, in collaboration with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the Local Land Services, was a smashing success.
“The genetically based experiment aims to try and increase the quality of wool produced and increase the yield per acre, per head by benchmarking bloodlines against other regional stock,” he said.
Glen Innes’s LLS senior livestock officer, Brent McLeod said the project was also about bringing together all the relevant industry stakeholders.
“It was a great example of industry collaboration and it was also a great way for producers to evaluate their performance against other regional producers,” Mr McLeod said.
The day also included a fund raising event, with all the shearers donating their pay for the day to the Glen Innes Show Society.
Mr McLeod said the funds raised from the day will be used to fund the prize money for the shearing competition, which will be held at next year’s Glenn Innes Show.
A highlight of the day was a shearing display by Australia’s national shearing champion and Glen Innes local, Daniel McIntyre.
Data from the project was collected by New England’s Practical Systems, a company that builds software especially for Australian agriculture.
Practical Systems CEO, Mark Morton said the final results of the project will be made available early next year.
According to Mr Meckiff, preliminary results from the day show that the average micron was 18 with an average ranging from 14 to 21.
“And the greasy fleece weight average was 5.3 kilograms, ranging from 3.1 – 8 kilograms,” Mr Meckiff said.
