Better Offering For First Wool Sale

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32387, 28 August 1970, Page 6

Better Offering For First Wool Sale

Compared with a year ago when the province was in the throes of drought the standard of the offering for the first Christchurch wool sale of the new season, which will be held in the Wool Exchange* on Monday, is much better. It is generally a story of sound and better-grown wools, reflecting the improved feed in recent months and the mild winter.

Although it is a winter sale there is a sizeable proportion of early-shorn new season’s fleece in the selection. On a check of several thousand bales it would look as though there is about 40 per cent to 50 per cent of neW season’s fleece or full length wools, about 8 per cent to 10 per cent of second-shear wools and about 16 per cent to 20 per cent of crutchings; At one store there has been a distinct increase in the amount of second-shear wool forward. Compared with last year’s comparable offering the proportion of - second-shear crossbred wools in this store's selection has more than doubled to nearly 9 per cent. And some growers who were represented in lasf year’s August sale are not in on this occasion. A little of last season’s fleece is also included in the selection. .. i Talking about the standard of the new fleece, the . spokesman for one firm of brokers said that a feature ' of the offering this time was the absence of dust. There : was a noticeable improvement in the style of wools 1 that had been carrying a lot 1 of dust last year because of the drought.

Hill country pre-lamb shorn fine wools again looked robust and wellgrown, and fully up to the standard of last year when they had compared so favourably with many of the paddock clips. It is pleasing to be able to report some improvement in the weight of wool being clipped per head. One firm puts it at more than lib per head. Another spokesman was a little more cautious. He thought that, except in favoured areas last season like Methven and Kaikoura, there would be an ‘ extra bale with about every 50 bales this season. While colour is generally fairly good, one store reports some colour in finer wools and at another a spokesman said that yolk and bacterial stain was showing in the wool from certain areas. Because of the disappointing opening to the market for Merino wools the offering at this sale, which is normally small, is smaller than usual as some vendors are holding their wool back on the assumption that the market is not likely to get much worse. Based on the first week’s

sales in Australia the estimated average greasy price for the season there would be about 33c per lb or about

3c per lb down on the closing rates of last season. In one store halfbred crutchings are described as being better grown but fairly heavy in condition, crossbreds being mostly on the short side, but with some good-yielding offerings. Here pieces and bailie's were considered to be some of the best seen at this time of the year. However, in another store it was reported that the odd-

ments were slightly faulted by mud or earth. In the latter store, although the preparation of wools was described as generally very well done, some lines were said to have been marred by failure to remove moity back wools and patches of yellow and green stain. A spokesman for another firm said that some good wools had been spoilt by shed stain. The wools are drawn from Mid-Canterbury and North Canterbury, Banks Peninsula, Marlborough, Nelson and the West Coast. On the east side of the island many of the offerings are from coastal regions. Details of catalogues in order of sale are:—New Zealand Farmers’ Co-opera-tive Association, 3552 bales; Daigety New Zealand, Ltd, 6241; NMA Company of New Zealand Ltd, 4940; and Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd, 6905; total, 21,638 bales. The total includes 213 bales, which will be offered on account nf the Wnnl Cntrimiccinn