Research Increases Wool Production

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31906, 6 February 1969, Page 22

Research Increases Wool Production

(New Zealand Press Association) DUNEDIN, February 5.

New Zealand farmers may soon be producing a tougher, better-quality wool fibre as a result of work being carried out at the Invermay Agricultural Research Station.

A scientist at the station, Dr T. F. Barry, has adapted Australian research work on the feeding of formalintreated protein to sheep to the problem of tender wool in New Zealand caused by poor feed conditions in autumn and winter

Dr Barry found that a group of Romney ewes which were fed with formalin-pro-tected casein showed increases in wool production of 52.8 per cent over the control ewes.

This was a spectacular increase, but Dr Barry said it was not as important as the increase in the diameter of wool fibres produced by the formalin-treated casein. He discovered that the special feed caused increases in fibre diameter of up to 10 per cent.

These increases were important because they occurred when growth was normally at its lowest rate—in late autumn and early spring, when the ewes were in late pregnancy or early lactation. The experiment showed that it was possible to make the diameter of wool fibres of Romney sheep more uniform that at present and consequently stronger.