THE Australian wool industry has reached a milestone with more than 19,000 woolclassers now registered.
Australian Wool Exchange chief executive officer Mark Grave reported the number of fully trained and registered woolclassers exceeded 19,000 yesterday.
“Given the decline in wool production, recent poor market conditions and some of the negative commentary over the past few years, for woolclasser registration to have reached this milestone is a positive story for the wool industry,” he said.
Mr Grave said only wool prepared by a registered woolclasser is eligible to receive a ‘P’ certificate, which was highly sought after and preferred by wool buyers.
“The Australian wool industry gained its reputation by producing the best prepared wool in the world on the back of some strategic foresight of the industry leaders over 50 years ago. Australia has been able to differentiate its wool based on quality, preparation, skills and training,” he said.
Mr Grave listed some of the benefits of woolclassing as:
• Adding significant value to a wool clip,
• Allowing buyers to buy wool with confidence,
• Providing woolgrowers with a skill to better understand and improve their product, and
• Providing the opportunity to use this skill as a source of income and further experience.
“Australia is the envy of all other wool producing countries,” Mr Grave said.
“Other countries have tried to develop their own woolclasser program but they have never been able to match the quality and reach of Australia’s.”
He said Australia was fortunate to have available the expertise of dedicated and highly skilled woolclasser trainers who made woolclasser education possible.
