In New Zealand, the NZWTA (see extra right here) is the most important wool testing home. (On this topic, a superb Australian historical past of wool testing by the lens of the AWTA is on the market on the AWTA web site (see right here)). The NZWTA often publishes micron distributions for the New Zealand crossbred and merino wool they’ve examined, which they’ve not too long ago up to date.
A latest observe from NZWTA in contrast the crossbred wool examined between 2005, 2015 and 2025. Determine 1 offers a replica of the NZWTA graphic, restricted to the 2005 and 2025 seasons solely. The micron vary runs from sub-25 micron to 41 micron and larger. The graphic exhibits some main adjustments within the New Zealand crossbred clip (as examined by the NZWTA) in the course of the previous 20 years. The proportion of 39 micron and broader has fallen, whereas the proportion of 36 micron and finer has risen, and the proportion of lower than 25 micron has gone from round 1% (negligible) to round 16% (main).
Translating the NZWTA crossbred micron distribution to wool volumes requires some estimates to be made. New Zealand wool exports, taken as a very good proxy for manufacturing, are divided into 4 micron ranges (see extra right here), the best of which is lower than 25 micron, accounting for round 12% of exports in greasy phrases. That is known as tremendous wool and contains the New Zealand merino clip (which averages 17-17.5 micron) and likewise a major a part of the 25 micron and finer crossbred wool proven in Determine 1. Beef+Lamb surveys estimate the proportion of merino sheep within the New Zealand flock at round 5%, so for this text, the merino proportion of the New Zealand wool clip is assumed to be 5%, which means the crossbred clip accounts for 95% of the wool clip.
Determine 2 applies the NZWTA crossbred micron distribution to a quantity calculated from Beef+Lamb export volumes, with a 95% scaling issue for a crossbred wool estimate. In the course of the previous twenty years, complete New Zealand wool exports have shrunk by 47%, from 163 to 86 million clear kg (the amount contains contemporary shorn wool and slipe). In Determine 2, the drop in quantity has been concentrated within the 36 micron and broader classes, with solely 26 micron and finer volumes rising.
Determine 3 exhibits the change in clear quantity phrases by micron class, and Determine 4 exhibits the change in proportional phrases by micron class. Determine 4 is distorted considerably by the massive rise in sub-25 micron volumes (they’ve tripled), which minimises the extraordinary drop in 38 micron and broader volumes within the order of 77% to 90%. Thirty-seven micron is down 66% and 36 micron by 48%. These falls are on par with the collapse seen within the Australian broad merino manufacturing.
