Wool growers warned their product will be untestable without key identification code
Wool growers risk losing access to testing for nearly a third of the nation's wool production if they miss the January property code deadline.
About 30 per cent of the nation’s wool will not be able to be tested unless growers lodge their property identification code by January next year.
Despite a two-year push, large numbers of wool growers still do not have their PICs lodged with their wool brokers, falling short of the industry goal of 90 per cent of bales sold.
But the number who haven’t could be artificially high according to WoolProducers Australia general manager Adam Dawes who said there had been issues for brokers lodging them.
“We hear they may be a problem with brokers who have not entered growers PICs, even though the grower may have notified them,” Mr Dawes said.
He said two years ago, about 20 per cent of growers had nominated their PICs on their national wool declarations, and the rise since then was significant even though it was not 100 per cent.
“What growers need to realise is that if they go to have their wool tested after January 1, it won’t be able to unless they have lodged their PIC,” he said.
Wool that has been tested prior to the end of this year without a PIC will still be eligible to be sold, as its test results will have been completed by the January 1 deadline.
“The easiest way to do this is complete the NWD and nominate the PIC and then it is up to the broker to declare the PIC,” Mr Dawes said.
Wool Industry Authority chairman David Michell said PICs nominated for wool improved traceability.
“A PIC is already central to Australia’s livestock traceability system,” Mr Michell said. “Extending its consistent use across the wool sector will significantly strengthen national preparedness for Emergency Animal Disease responses and enhance confidence in the origin and traceability of Australian wool throughout domestic and global supply chains.”
He said the wool industry had a goal for 90 per cent of bales to be sold with a PIC declaration.
Australian Wool Testing Authority figures show 460,637 bales had been tested to date, with Queensland growers leading the way in PIC declarations with 88.5 per of bales accompanied with a PIC.
This compares to the lowest adoption rate of 62 per cent in Western Australia.
The AWTA said it stored PICs as part of the pre-sale testing process.
“Only the code is stored in AWTA’s database and it remains anonymous as we have no means of identifying or referencing which grower or property these codes represent,” it said.
