Photo of Henry, Gaby and their daughter Jess supplied by Anna Munro - MUSTER Photography.

Written by Hine Mullany, PGG Wrightson Wool Trainee.  

Alistair Flett, our rep for South Canterbury and Central Otago recently took me out of the office to see an Upper Waitaki-based farming family who are gearing up for a positive future in wool.

Henry and Gaby Williamson farm 2065 hectare West Edge, near Omarama. Producing fine wool from approximately 7500 stock units, the farm recently took two important steps: achieving the globally recognised Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) certification, one of the first New Zealand woolgrowers to independently do so, and building a new wool shed.

Alistair tells me the Williamsons are one of our most respected suppliers. They’ve been with us since they have been at West Edge, supplying all their wool to PGG Wrightson, and also working with several of the company’s other business units.

Since all their wool goes to auction, RWS certification is the best thing for West Edge to get the best return – hence spending the time and effort to go through the audit process.

Henry says although the RWS certification was thorough, achieving it required little change in terms of practical farm management.

“Basically the materials needed were already there from other audits we’ve done for our regional council such as farm environment plans, and farm assurance programmes for meat processing companies. We didn’t have to do much to change anything on the farm that we weren’t already doing. Incorporating all these standards into one would be useful in future, because in the meantime quite a bit of repetition is involved in the auditing process. However, it’s a step forward for us that should be worth it for the premiums we stand to add to our clip,” he says.

RWS is designed to recognise New Zealand wool grower’s best practices ensuring that wool comes from farms with a progressive approach to land and stock management. It follows the Five Freedoms: internationally recognised animal welfare standards, consisting of freedom from hunger or thirst; from discomfort; from pain, injury or disease; freedom to express most normal behaviour; and freedom from fear and distress.

As well as achieving RWS, the Williamsons recently completed the construction of a new five stand wool shed, built by Farm Build South. In 2003 the Williamson family bought the original property, later splitting it, with Henry and Gaby forming West Edge Station. Until this year shearing had been carried out in the original wool shed on the neighbouring property.

Henry had clear criteria for the new West Edge shed, including multipurpose use, not just for shearing.

“When you build a wool shed it’s a long term investment, for the next generation at least. We put pens underneath with enough headroom to ensure you don’t have to bend over when working down there as we will use that area often, we want to be able to use it comfortably all year round.

“We are still in the process of finalising the design of the covered yards alongside the new shed. Although we have yards, though not permanently fixed; we are using temporary gates only at this point aiming to refine the layout as we go, looking at how the sheep flow in different parts of the yard, and adjusting accordingly.

“So far, it’s been an easy shed to work in, and the shearing gang definitely appreciated it. Like  achieving RWS accreditation it represents an investment in the future of West Edge, and of the fine wool sector in general,” says Henry.

Thanks very much Henry and Gaby for your hospitality, and for showing me round your farm. Being in the wool industry is not always rainbows and butterflies, especially at the moment. After a visit to West Edge, it’s great to be able to share your positive story with our fellow woollies.