Mulesing remains a thorn in wool’s side
Despite progress made in breeding and fly management, the wool industry remains deeply divided about whether the bloody practice of mulesing should remain.
SECTIONS of Australia’s wool producers are gradually moving away from mulesing and towards breeding barer breech sheep and managing blowfly strike with extra labour and chemical use.
But the vast majority of Merinos in Australia are still mulesed in order to battle the devastating impacts of flystrike.
Despite gradual changes made in breeding and management of sheep in many flocks, the industry remains deeply divided about whether the bloody - yet effective and undoubtably lifesaving in many scenarios - practice should remain part of Australia’s wool industry.
Many pastoralists remain adamant that mulesing is in their interest and their flock’s welfare depends on it, despite many retail brands shying away from wool produced with this practice.
But a slowly growing number of other breeders are adamant that mulesing has had its day and the industry needs to move on and adopt new methods to deal with flies.
After about 15 years of controversy, many industry players are still not prepared to even publicly discuss their views on mulesing, due to fears of a backlash from others.
What is not clear is how the industry’s 2030 strategy, to be delivered by Australian Wool Innovation in November, will please both camps.
Ed Storey, Wool Producers Australia president and a Yass, NSW woolgrowers is calling for the industry to have a frank discussion about the way forward.
“We really have to ask, is the way the industry is handling it now really the best way to address it, and I don’t think it is,” he said.
“In some environments, mulesing is in the best interests of the long-term welfare of the sheep, so we need to put the practice on as firm a footing as possible.”
But he also wants AWI to be clearer about what impact this could have on price.
“Growers then can make a more informed decision about what they do,” Mr Storey said.
“The way things are now, we are not able to properly sell the wonderful message in the marketplace; this one issue of animal welfare is overriding it.”
AWI chief executive Stuart McCullough said the organisation would “continue to communicate with Australian growers that some fashion labels have a preference for non-mulesed wool, but... is not a universal view”.
AWI was “ agnostic to a view on the issue given AWI works for all Australian woolgrowers and therefore respects the decisions they make”.
Shearing Contractors Association of Australia’s Jason Letchford said the industry needed to be ready for (labour required to manage) a non-mulesed flock. “Unfortunately, at the moment we are not ready for that,” he said.
SHOULD WOOL GROWERS CONTINUE MULESING?
Peter Meyer, Australian Association of Stud Merino Breeders president, Brinkworth, South Australia
“I represent studs that are non-mulesed and also those that mules. Seventy five per cent of Australia’s 61,000 commercial wool producers still want to mules for animal welfare concerns. People forget we haven’t had a bad flywave in the past few years due to droughts but they will come again and they are terrible. Growers must have a choice to mules and encourage pain relief. At the moment there is no premium for non-mulesed wool unless you’ve got a contract. In future the prices and profitability of mulesed and non-mulesed wool will dictate and drive these decisions. AWI should really push to defend mulesing and tell the story of animal welfare. We should have been defending it before now.”
Nigel Kerin, Kerin Poll Merino, Dubbo, NSW
“The market will dictate and no one will move until its too late. Its like playing hide and seek as a kid, you’re hiding and your hiding, and then the game is over. Everyone is just hiding and hoping it goes away. Mulesing is never going to be (marketed so consumers accept it to be) OK. It is impossible to make mulesing OK, socially we are not allowed to do things like that any more. I don’t push my clients to stop mulesing but we stopped three years ago and many have followed. I am concerned about chemical resistance though. We’ll manage with more labour and crutching.”
Graham Morphett, Alma Merino stud, Bolligal, NSW
“Mulesing needs to be retained as tool. We run a lot of sheep over a very large area and have only a few workers, so we can’t get around all our sheep quickly (if conditions turn humid and there is a flywave). We only mules lightly now, there is a big difference to the heavy mulesing of 30 years ago and the practice now. It is critical for our operation. I don’t believe prices on our wool, 21 micron, are being discounted due to mulesing; perhaps at the finer end they are, 15-17 micron. AWI should be telling the story that people like me are responsible graziers and we mules because it is beneficial to the sheep and their welfare. The worst thing there is is a flyblown sheep.”
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