QA systems deliver up to 300c/kg

It is possible to get up to 300c/kg for wool but only a small number are earning this. How do growers get a piece of the price action?

Wool with the highest accreditation for animal welfare is delivering premiums of up to 300c/kg yet very few growers are gaining this advantage.

Just 5 per cent of the Australian wool clip is accredited under one of a number of quality assurance schemes which require growers to follow standards for animal welfare and sustainable production.

A common thread in all schemes is that they source non-mulesed wool.

Independent Commodity Services market analyst Andrew Woods said Australia was lagging behind competitor countries in terms of accreditation.

He said about 30 per cent of the Merino clip was sold under quality systems in South Africa, while for Uruguay and Argentina, it was about 10-11 per cent.

The biggest uptake of any scheme in Australia was the Responsible Wool Standard, which Mr Woods said “was all about animal welfare and doesn’t give a toss about wool quality”.

Other schemes included SustainaWOOL, Authentico and ZQ, a New Zealand program which had limited traction in Australia.

“Not much wool is coming through that is registered under those quality schemes, so it is difficult to work out what premiums are applicable because there is not much to work with,” Mr Woods said.

“But when you compare good quality wool that is RWS accredited to wool with similar specifications that is mulesed, you see a 150-300c/kg premium in Australian dollar terms across the season.”

Wool which was accredited under the other schemes also earned more, and while not as great as RWS, were “still substantial compared to mulesed and non-declared wool”, Mr Woods said.

WoolProducers Australia general manager Adam Dawes said the small uptake of quality assurance schemes was potentially due to a lack of visibility of premiums.

“Through the reporting of significant premiums, growers will start to consider participation however there must be some cross-recognition between schemes to minimise costs to growers while continuing to meet supply chain expectations,” Mr Dawes said.

He said the premiums paid for quality assured wool reflected what customers wanted and “we need to more aware of the developing expectations of our customers so that we can continue to deliver sustainable fibre to meet their expectations”.

“The reality is that Australian growers already to most of the things that these QA schemes expect as a business as usual — we just need to tell our customers the great story,” he said.