AFTER destocking to less than half of its Merino ewe flock to cope with the past four years of drought conditions, one Blinman station opted to delay the selling of last year's wool, but as prices begin to rise, its owners will look to sell its new season clip in the coming weeks.
Alpana Station's David and Sally Henery's 3000-head sheep flock was dwindled down to 600 in the past few seasons and as the family attempts to rebuild numbers, selling this year's wool clip sooner rather than later, will also increase cash flow.
"We have not had a lot of wool to sell because of the drought so even though we held onto wool, it was not much," Mrs Henery said.
"The wool prices last year were not as good as we hoped and because we did not have a lot there, we wanted to wait until prices were a bit higher."
The Henerys shear every 12 months and despite the drought, wool clip quality was a "pleasant surprise".
"As you would expect during drought, there has been a bit of tender wool but this year's quality looks pretty good so far," Mrs Henery said.
"Our biggest issue is vegetable matter - we get pine needles and burs but it has not affected the wool as much as usual."
Mrs Henery is also hopeful about the year ahead, with rainfall in late August/September last year helping to put breeding ewes in good condition for joining in November.
"The ewes have had feed and we are hopefully going to have lambs on the ground this year," she said.
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Vanessa Binks
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
I am the Markets Editor and journalist at the Stock Journal. I am based at Nuriootpa in SA's lower north.
