The wool industry may consider itself as the ultimate sustainable, biodegradable, natural fibre but Australian growers will increasingly need to prove their good animal welfare practices and environmental credentials to the supply chain.
That was the major discussion of a panel during the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide last week which concluded there were no guarantees of premiums for signing up to certification programs such as the revamped Australian Wool Sustainability Scheme being managed by Australian Wool Exchange.
However there is a chance in the future it may become a 'ticket to ride'
One of Australia's largest woolgrowers, AJ&PA McBride, accepts that retail brands and customers have become more discerning and want to know how their wool is being grown. Its operations manager Anthony Uren wants to turn this into an opportunity.
"If there is an opportunity to sell mules free, accredited wool which is carbon neutral we would jump at that chance," he said.
They are exploring carbon opportunities on a couple of their 11 properties spread across the north east and north west pastoral areas, as well as the South East and one on the SA-Vic border.
AJ&PA McBride has two drops of lambs which have not been mulesed on three of its properties, Brooklyn Station near Lucindale as well as Teetulpa via Yunta and North Well via Kingoonya, selecting these properties as a guide to transitioning others to non mulesing in the future.
He says they have seen an increase in stain and dags on their unmulesed wools but with the managers of the three properties knowing sheep are more susceptible to flystrike they have monitored them closely and treated them as necessary.
"Even with a couple of good seasons in the north east and north west pastoral zones and the expansive paddocks we have got out of it with minimal issues and in the south we have also been able to get through controlling the flystrike chemically, although this may be only a short term control option," he said.
"The next test will be lambing down these unmulesed ewes later in the year and whether we have issues with afterbirth sticking to the breech area."
He said there was no "quick fix" to breeding sheep not requiring mulesing and were still working through the genetic path forward.
"We also don't want to plain our sheep up and remove wool cut which is a real challenge," he said.
Mr Uren believes there will be short term premiums for Responsible Wool Standards wool- open to flocks which have ceased mulesing- but says their strategy is long-term wanting to maximise buyer competition on their wool clip.
Last financial year the family owned company produced about 8300 bales from 350,000 sheep.
"We always live in hope that we might see a premium but from our point of view we want full market access so it is in our interests to ensure that we do our best to be the best producers we can be," he said.
"We are always looking for efficiencies and trying to drive down our cost of production, the most sustainable thing we can do as a business is be profitable so we can reinvest in the business."
Mr Uren says they have not signed up to any of the schemes yet.
"It must align to the values of the business and be able to deliver us positive outcomes," he said.
Elders wool quality assurance and marketing manager Samantha Wan says there has been interest for the past five or six years since Sustainawool and New Merino were established but she is receiving multiple calls each day from growers.
"Three years ago my role didn't even exist but our role as brokers is to extend the information to our clients and make sure they don't miss an opportunity," she said.
"We are seeing these accreditation schemes in many ag industries from beef to aquaculture, not just wool and while the landscape is different now for premiums than pre-COVID we are seeing the next generation conscientious about being part of the schemes and wanting to get that tick."
She expects it depend on the priorities of individual businesses whether they sign up but said there needs to be a return on investment and it not take away too much from farming.
"We have seen some cases of audit fatigue it makes no sense in trying to maintain their social licence particularly animal welfare that they have less time to be going around and checking their animals because they are doing the paperwork in the office to prove they are the best at animal welfare," she said.
But young WA grower Mikaela Knapp, Craigmore Pastoral Company, Katanning, says growers which are facing very dry times are just focused on having feed and water for their stock.
Their last significant rain in the Great Southern region was September last year.
She says high operating costs- some paying $15 a head full contract rate for shearing-along with poor returns were also forcing some wool growers towards shedding sheep and cropping.
Ms Knapp says it is more difficult for smaller farming operations like themselves to join the carbon farming space but they have collected some baseline measurements to measure carbon.
"It is becoming like you have to do these things or you are out of the game and for a lot of growers they find that really confronting because they want a premium for the hard work they are doing," she said.
"They like to think they are being rewarded for doing a good job, but that is not the way it is going."
