This week The Country's Jamie Mackay catches up with PGG Wrightson's GM for wool Grant Edwards to talk about the wool industry.

Since their last chat, Edwards says that the market has been steady across the board for all wool types.

Wool auctions have been at the A and P shows in Hawkes Bay and Christchurch. These have resulted in strong volumes of wool and great to see support for the market.

The Christchurch auctions turned around about 7.2 million dollars of wool within 4.5 hours of selling. Edwards mentions that this is a great show piece for farmers to see their product selling

Traditionally at this time of year the bulk of fleece wool comes off as lambs are weaned off and shearing begins.

Mackay mentions that the harvest of the wool clip is spread out over 12 months, compared to the traditional mad rush September – January shearing season. Edwards agrees as there is a lot more second shearing now.

Wool preparation and contamination continues to be an issue as Mackay brings up the discounting of wool due to staining by permanent markers at scanning time.

Edwards adds that preparation is always key and that it comes down to the farmers paying attention to this at the time of shearing.

Mackay notes that it has been very wet in some parts of the country and this might result in yellowing and discolouration. Edwards adds that this could be the case, particularly with Southland and humidity in the North Island, but it will just be something that farmers will need to keep an eye on.

Mackay wraps up by mentioning that the IWTO (International Wool Textile Organization) conference is in Queenstown next week, and that it is great to have international wool partners come to New Zealand to discuss the future of wool.