SATISFIED WITH WOOL EFFORTS

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31366, 11 May 1967, Page 12

SATISFIED WITH WOOL EFFORTS

The Wool Board was satisfied that New Zealand wool had received a relatively fair share of promotion by the International Wool Secretariat, a board member, Mr L. P. Chapman, told the annual meeting of the meat and wool section of the North Canterbury Federated Farmers yesterday.

The board also endorsed the strategy of Mr W. J. Vines in emphasising the divorce of wool from synthetic fibres, he said.

“This has been most difficult to achieve with the end uses of New Zealand wools as opposed to the uses of fine apparel wools,” he said. While the secretariat had foreseen the decline in coarse wool prices, it was difficult entirely to free wool from the influence of the price of its competitors. Over the last 10 years, said Mr Chapman, New Zealand

wools of 46-50 s quality and lower had risen from 40 per cent to 65 per cent of the New Zealand clip. “As well as this change to more coarse wool, there has been a very real deterioration in quality,” he said. “This is an inevitable result of a position where all our wool was sold, and the traditional price relationship held between fine and strong wools. “The decision is up to the individual farmer as to which he does. The board would say this decline is very hard to arrest, and it is very hard to improve wool standards. On a national view, farmers should look very closely at this trend.” On New Zealand wool promotion, Mr Chapman said that expenditure on promotion of end uses of crossbred wool was now one-third of the secretariat’s budget. This exceeded New Zealands’ 24 per cent contribution, with 62 per cent from Australia and 14 per cent from South Africa. Mr Chapman, who is also chairman of the Wool Research Organisation, said the laboratory at Lincoln would like to step up applied research.

It was hoped to establish a crossbred wool unit, primarily concerned with shortterm problems in its use. It might be possible to develop blends of carpet wool, to be sold as a line, or blends for other uses.