Wool Clip Research Articles

Have NSW wool producers taken heed of market signals and reduced the average fibre diameter of their wool clips

Have NSW wool producers taken heed of market signals and reduced the average fibre diameter of their wool clips

Surveys to assess the amount of pesticide in wool and the use of pesticides by woolgrowers in Queensland.

To measure the amounts of pesticide residue in wool grown in Queensland between 1997 and 1999, and to describe the use of pesticides for the control of lice infestations and blowfly strike in Queensland sheep flocks. Pesticide residues were measured in a random sample of wool from Queensland clips offered for sale during 1998 and 1999. Information on pesticide use was obtained from a trace-back postal survey. Samples taken from wool lots were tested for the presence and amount of organophosphorus (OP), synthetic pyrethroid (SP) and insect growth regulator pesticides. A questionnaire seeking information on flock characteristics and pesticide use was sent to the manager of each flock from which a wool sample was tested. The mean amount of OP and SP residue was 2.0 and 0.8 mg/kg, respectively. Ninety-five and 98% of wool samples contained < 9 mg/kg and 7 mg/kg of OP and SP residues, respectively. The mean amount of cyromazine, diflubenzuron and triflumuron was 12.7, 5.8 and 13.0 mg/kg, respectively. The amounts of OP, cyromazine and triflumuron residues were greater in wool from flocks located in southern Queensland. Most (95%; 95% CI, 92-97%) Queensland wool clips grown between 1997 and 1999 meet the suggested Australian maximum acceptable residue amounts for OP and SP pesticides.

Woolgrowers, Brokers and the Debate over the Sale of the Australian Wool Clip, 1920–1925

Prior to the First World War, the selling of the Australian wool clip rested firmly in the hands of the large woolbroking firms. An agreement between the British and Australian governments during the war saw many of the wool‐selling functions of broking firms taken over by the Central Wool Committee. At the conclusion of hostilities, brokers moved to regain their role in the market. However, market conditions had changed. On an international level, traditional trading relationships had broken down, leaving commodity markets unstable and prices unpredictable. On a local level, woolgrowers had benefited from the wartime orderly marketing scheme and the high price guaranteed by the British government for their wool clip. As a result, they had begun to demand a greater role in the selling arrangements of their clip. This paper investigates the debates over the sale of the wool clip in the 1920s and how woolbrokers and growers eventually arrived at an understanding as to the manner in which the market should operate.

The politics and economics of wool marketing, 1950–2000

The history of marketing, research, development policies and intervention in marketing of the wool clip is reviewed from the perspective of an insider. The overall theme is that politics took over comprehensively from clear economic policy advice on wool marketing in the past 50 years and woolgrowers paid a high price for this. The idea of ‘integrated marketing’ including an export monopoly, a buffer stock scheme and coordinated promotion and R&amp;D, collectively a strong interventionist philosophy, has waxed and waned. Having borne most of the costs of these failed policies, remaining woolgrowers can now look forward to a market less distorted by political interference.

Pesticide use and residues on Queensland wool.

To determine practices for control of louse infestation and blowfly strike in Queensland sheep flocks that are associated with organophosphorous and synthetic pyrethroid residues on wool. Information on residues was obtained from a survey of Queensland wool clips. Information on pesticide use was obtained from a trace-back postal survey. The association between pesticide use and residues was assessed using generalised linear models, controlling for potential confounding by flock location. Between 1995 and 1997 Queensland wool clips were randomly sampled. Samples were tested for the presence and amount (mg per kg of greasy wool) of organophosphorous and synthetic pyrethroid pesticides. A questionnaire seeking information on flock characteristics and pesticide use was sent to the manager of each flock from which a wool sample was tested. The median amount of OP and SP residue was 0.8 and 0.25 mg/kg, respectively, and 91 and 95% of wool samples contained < 8 mg/kg of OP and SP residues, respectively. The frequency of OP pesticide use for louse control was significantly (P = 0.005) associated with mean OP residue amount, and the timing of SP use for louse control, in relation to shearing, was significantly (P < 0.001) associated with mean SP residue amount. Most Queensland wool clips have acceptable amounts of residues after the use of OP and SP pesticides, but wool growers can further reduce residues by effectively controlling louse infestation with pesticide applications early after shearing and the use of non-chemical methods of ectoparasite control.

Trends in the use of pesticides and pesticide residues on Queensland wool.

To determine the amounts of organophosphorous and synthetic pyrethroid residues on Queensland wool sampled between 1995 and 1997, and to study if pesticide use changed during the period. Estimated amounts of residues were obtained from a survey of Queensland wool clips and information on pesticide use was obtained from a trace-back postal survey of flock managers. Trends in amounts of residues over time were assessed using analysis of variance and simple linear regression models, and changes in pesticide use was assessed using chi 2 tests. Significant linear reductions in organophosphorous (P = 0.0012), synthetic pyrethroid (P = 0.0044) and total (P = 0.0002) residues were detected. The proportion of wool-growers treating for louse infestation (P = 0.0046) treating twice or more (P = 0.0006) and treating more than 4 months after shearing (P = 0.0001) decreased between 1994 and 1997. However, the proportion of growers who treated for blowfly strike (P = 0.0124) and used insect growth regulator pesticides increased (P < 0.0001). The use of handjetting to apply pesticides for blowfly strike control increased and the use of dips decreased (P < 0.0001). Residues of organophosphorous compounds and synthetic pyrethroids reduced in Queensland wool between 1994 and 1997. Although woolgrowers treated for louse infestation less, pesticide use to control blowfly strike increased. The increasing use of insect growth regulators in the industry needs to be monitored.

Mathematical Concepts and Methods in the Industrial Utilization of the New Zealand Wool Clip

This paper outlines various mathematical concepts, such as vector spaces, Boolena algebra, and linear programming, that have been found helpful in developing computer software for use by various groups involved with marketing and using New Zealand wools. Considerable raw data concerning the New Zealand wool clip are now available in the form of computer records covering the production and prices received at auctions over several seasons. These data can be transformed by mathematical methods to yield more specific management tools of value to sheep breeders, wool exporters, wool-marketing bodies, and wool processors. The methods used could be of general application to other natural-fibre industries.

Networking or Refined Transhipment: Optimisation Alternatives for Processing and Handling the Australian Wool Clip

A search for rigor, relevance, and efficiency in formulating plant location problems has resulted in longstanding experimentation with alternative formats and techniques. Most notably, these have spanned the full range of programming methods from transportation/transhipment models through concave and quadratic programming to mixed-integer formulations. While researchers have reported major drawbacks with mixed-integer programming, a popular current approach, viz. minimum cost flow network analysis, seems to have overemphasized the virtues of this otherwise promising innovation. To illustrate that not all “traditional” methods need be “limiting” and “unaccommodating” by comparison with network analysis, this paper presents a refinement of a “traditional” model and argues that the alleged superiority of network analysis cannot be sustained. The refined transhipment model is applied to policy issues associated with alternative ways of assembling, packing, storing and transporting the Australian wool clip at minimum cost, given the changing overseas shipping environment following containerisation.

TUJ YAPAĞILARI'NIN BAZI FİZİKİ ÖZELLİKLERİ ÜZERİNDE BİR ARAŞTIRMA

OZET Cildir'zn Dogruyo! koyu, y'oresilide yetistirilen Tujlarm yapagilari parlak beyaz renkte olup hali tipi yapagi ozellikleri gosterirler. lik kirkimlari yapilan disi ve ikiz esleri olmayan Tuj/arda yapagi gomlek agir. lik ortalamasi 1,210 kg. dir. Bu miktar, ayni yas ve dnsiyetteki Morkaramanlarinkinden fazladir. YapagJlardd randiman ortalamasi :ya 83,41 olup, bu deger yerli irklaruntza ait degerlerden ustundur. Ayrica, Tu) yapagi/arinda bitkisel madde yok denilecek kadar azdir. Yapagi liile uzimluklari, hali ipligi yapinuna uygilt! uzunlukta bulundular. Yapagi/arda, kil incelik ortalamasi 34, 60 mikron olup ve 70.00 mikrondan kqba olan killarin nisbeti :ya 5 dir. Ki/ incelik dagilimina gore, Tu) yapagi/arimn :ya 21 i' kumas yapimma uygun durumdadir. SUMMARY This reserarch was caried out in order to determino some physical PJoperties of wool obtained from Tuj sheep raised in the district of 'Dogruyol willage. 50 head yearling ewes were seJected randomly among some flocks raised in that region. ' . The wool saqi.ples used in this study were taken from the rib area of the sheep i during the shearing time. According to the result; the average fleece weight of Tuj ewe is i ,210 kg. and wool yield is 3,41 ~~. Staple length is 6,72 cm. and dianieter of fiber is 34,60 mikr,ons. , As a ,~onclusion it has been seen that, T~j, sheep hav~ produced less wool clip as an avrage than other unjmpro~ed sheep bre~ds. in addition to the selectian will be practiced,' in order to obtaine'. more neece' weight Tuj rams having more , fleece weight and longer staple legnth should be ~ated to Tiij ewes. We beliye that, these problems wiU be solved in the next generations.

The organisation of the New Zealand sheep industry

The importance of the sheep industry in terms of livestock numbers, productivity and export earnings is stressed, as is the fact that nearly 80% of all lamb and mutton entering world trade comes from New Zealand. Data on systems of production, interrelation of hill and lowland areas, farm sizes, flock sizes and productivity are given. Ninety per cent of the wool clip is classified as crossbred—mostly in the 46–50 s quality number range. Sale by auction, operation of the floor price scheme and the fate of proposals for ‘total acquisition’ of the wool clip are discussed. Lamb marketing is also discussed, including operation of the lamb price schedule, the opportunities available to producers, and the role of the Meat Producers' Board. Currently there is depression in the industry, due to low export prices and, above all, increased costs. The producers' share of export realisations has decreased greatly due to increased processing and transport costs. In this atmosphere there is great interest and discussion on income stabilisation, marketing efficiency and marketing methods which would give farmers an adequate return with which to invest in their own farms in order to exploit a potential which undoubtedly exists for increased production.

Within-flock Comparisons of the Mean Fibre Diameter for Classers' Quality Lines in the Australian Wool Clip

(1975). Within-flock Comparisons of the Mean Fibre Diameter for Classers' Quality Lines in the Australian Wool Clip. The Journal of The Textile Institute: Vol. 66, No. 6, pp. 232-236.

Irish Labour in the North of England

Befor the mechanization of harvest an extra source of labour at this time was a necessity. As early as the fourteenth century the Statute of Labourers specifically allowed the migration of labour from the Pennines, and from Craven in Yorkshire to assist with the harvest in other districts. In the seventeenth century, Henry Best of Elmswell in the East Riding of Yorks, sent to Malton to hire ‘moor folks’ from the Cleveland hills, and set up beds and bedsteads in his folks chamber, his Kiln and any other convenient house for their accommodation. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the hand textile workers (men, women and children) of the clothing districts of the West Riding, tramped to the fields of the Vale of York, the East Riding, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire to assist in gathering the harvest, taking a working holiday at a time when supplies of wool were low, and the new wool clip was not yet processed.

THE IMPROVEMENT AND UTILIZATION OF TUSSOCK GRASSLANDS: A FARMER'S VIEWPOINT

THE PROPERTY to be discussed comprises 4,000 acres-2,000 acres of good and 2,000 acres of light, stony flat. By 1956, the rabbit boards had the rabbit under control and stock numbers had risen from 240 ewes with a low lambing percentage, and clipping five bales of wool, to 600 ewes, 200 hoggets and a wool clip of 18 bales. Lambing percentage was 80.

Morphometry of ‘Doggy’ Wool

ALTHOUGH ‘doggy’ wool constitutes only 0.8 per cent of the Australian wool clip, its incidence has increased by 50 per cent in some fine-wool growing areas over the past three years1. ‘Doggy’ wool can be spun and woven into cloth on conventional machines to give a textile which is marginally inferior to normal; on the latest machines ‘doggy’ wool can be spun finer than normal2. The fabric is slightly stronger and has a slightly harder ‘handle’ or feel than that from normal wool. A possible indicator of incipient ‘dogginess’ in fleece wool is reported below.

Crimp in wool - the incidence of abnormal staple crimp within individual flocks

Fleeces of Polwarth and Corriedale, and of fine-wool, medium-wool, and strong-wool Merino sheep in 13 commercial flocks and 3 experimental flocks in five Australian States were graded for abnormality of staple crimp. The incidence of abnormally crimped fleeces in individual flocks ranged from 26 to 96 per cent, and within each flock the frequency varied considerably with age. This survey suggests that as much as 10 per cent of the Australian wool clip may have some crimp abnormality. Evidence of an effect of flock husbandry was a higher incidence of abnormally crimped fleeces amongst spring-mated than amongst autumn-mated ewes in a flock at Trangie, N.S.W. Differences in the availability of feed at times of increased requirement may have been responsible. In several flocks fleeces that exhibited superimposed secondary waves (over-crimping) generally had higher crimp frequencies than normally crimped fleeces, but not always correspondingly smaller fibre thickness. In all flocks doggy fleeces had substantially lower crimp frequencies and frequently greater fibre thicknesses than normally crimped fleeces.

Staple strength

Summary The incidence and importance of “break” in the New Zealand wool clip is discussed. A method is given for the measurement of staple strength, and some results of staple strength measurements on Romney and Corriedale wools are given and discussed. A correlation of 0.65 was found between staple strength and a hand assessment of strength on 721 samples of Romney Crossbred wool. There is wide variation in the staple strengths of wools which are all assessed by hand grading as being sound.

Vegetable Matter in the New South Wales Wool Clip

THIS little book is excellently produced and illustrated. Its main purpose is to acquaint wool appraisers with the common fruits and other parts of plants which become caught up in the fleece of sheep in New South Wales, and it has a map to show from which parts of the State the common 'burrs' of wool come. It is surprising, considering the richness of the New South Wales flora, that so few species of plants contaminate wool ; the book describes only forty-five species, and many of these are unimportant. Vegetable Matter in the New South Wales Wool Clip By E. J. Milthorpe. Pp. vii + 60. (Sydney: Central Wool Committee Testing House, 1943.) 21s.

Sampling Wool Clips for Clean Yield by the Core Boring Method

Sampling Wool Clips for Clean Yield by the Core Boring Method

Crops and Livestock in England and Wales

THE Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has recently issued the first part of its publication, “Agricultural Statistics, 1934”, entitled “Acreage and Production of Crops and Number of Livestock in England and Wales” (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1s. Qd. net), a report which summarizes the annual returns from all holdings exceeding one acre. An outstanding feature is the arrestx of the continuous change from arable to grass that has been going on since the Great War, the area under permanent grass showing a reduction on the previous year, whereas the total area under corn has expanded during the same period. As regards roots, the acreage under sugar beet reached a new record figure; that under fodder roots and potatoes, on the other hand, showed a decline. Yields were generally high, being above the average for all corn crops, potatoes, mangolds, hops and several kinds of fruit, though appreciably below normal for hay, turnips and swedes. The numbers of cattle, dairy cows, pigs and poultry have risen since 1933, whereas those for sheep and horses have declined, and as might be expected the output of meat and livestock products, eggs and milk have all shown considerable increases, while the wool clip was substantially reduced. An interesting feature of the report lies in the attainment of many record figures, the yield of wheat and apples being attributable no doubt to the favourable season, and the output of dairy and poultry products to the increase in numbers of cows and birds maintained. Records in area, total production and yield per acre were also reached in the case of sugar beet, while the area under oats, turnips and swedes fell to the lowest figure yet attained, reflecting the changes that are taking place in farming practice.