The Country's Rowena Duncum speaks with PGG Wrightson's GM for Wool Grant Edwards and highlights the success from the live auction system at the New Zealand Agricultural Shows, despite a dip in the market.

"The current wool market is softening across all wool types in the last 3-4 weeks which raises concerns for the industry," says Edwards.

At day two of the New Zealand Agricultural Show (formerly known as the Canterbury Show), PGG Wrightson show-cased their live wool auction, which Edwards states as "a great promotion of their auction system which is the main vehicle for transferring ownership of wool."

This is the third year in a row that the live wool auction has ran at the New Zealand Agricultural Show and it has generated strong interest from the public, farmers, and buyers, and has also helped to demonstrate the professional nature of the live auction system. Within 5 hours the PGG Wrightson's live wool auction turned over seven million dollars' worth of wool.

Edwards recently attended the Wool Research AGM and has been encouraged by it as Dr. Garth Carnaby provided insights into previous market trends and the development of wool fiber as a sustainable product.

Dr. Garth Carnaby highlighted that there is an opportunity for cross-breed wools particularly in the domestic market, and that there is the consideration of the health benefits in synthetic vs natural productions.