Jamie pointed out that two sheep farmer mates have just sold their main shear clip.  One got $1-25 net.  The other got $1-36 net.  And it's costing $6-40 to shear a sheep.  Wool is surely at an all-time low. But with China opening up, is there light at the end of the tunnel?  Grant believes there are very string grounds for optimism.  By the same token , he remarks that the quality of wool coming to sale is the worst he's ever seen.  This is no reflection on farmers or how they're operating.  It's a reflection on climatic conditions, resulting in very low yielding wools. 

Jamie counters by mentioning a top-performing sheep farming family in Southland.  For the last three financial years, their wool income over three years was $24,000.  Their shearing costs over those three years were $37,000.  You can offer all the hope in the world but are farmers in danger of getting out of wool?  There's a lot of interest in the Wiltshire sheep.  But surely this is a dangerous track to go down.  Then again, how long can farmers put up with such low prices for their wool clip?

Grant agrees that the Wiltshire self-shedding sheep is a bad idea.  A cross-bred sheep is dual purpose with both meat and wool.  So why not grow a good fleece while you're growing lamb?  He agrees that costs around the world in whatever we do are all rising.  But there's still that optimism.

Palle Petersen, PGG Wrightson's general manager of exports, has been at the Domotex flooring trade fair in Germany.  All the customers he spoke to there are confident about the future.  One of the largest customers, for whom the bulk of their business is an 80 to 20 percent wool-nylon blend, is now heading toward 100 percent wool.  There are two reasons for this.  Wool is cheaper than nylon.  And wool has a better end-of-life story as it's biodegradable and sustainable.

Grant says China was basically out of the market.  Their wool exports six months ago were roundabout 20 percent.  They're now 30.  There was a price increase immediately after China ended their Covid elimination strategy.  The further challenge is to lift the quality of the wool coming to market.