"This large increase in feed available to sheep in WA will also have the effect of broadening the WA clip for the 2005/06 season. This is in contrast to the previous season, where the amount of fine wool - 19.5 micron and finer - from WA increased around 35 per cent."
A combination of improved seasonal conditions in WA and a subtle change in Merino breeding strategies to traits other than primarily micron, is forecast to reduce the volume of fine wool produced in 2005/06 to 144mkg greasy, a 13mkg greasy or eight per cent decline on the 2004/05 season.
The Committee also revised 2004/05 season figures slightly lower to 475mkg, down 2mkg on the forecast made in March 2005, as a result of the latest test data from the Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA). This now sets 2004/05 production the same as in the 2003/04 season.
The revised 2004/05 forecast is based on 106.4 million sheep shorn at an average of 4.47 kilograms per head (kg/head). The new 2005/06 forecast assumes 105.9 million sheep shorn at an average of 4.44kg per head.
Australian Wool Innovation (AWI)
marketing@alchempro.com
