AWI is funding the development of a low-cost method of on-farm fibre measurement that uses a smartphone app, potentially enabling woolgrowers to easily measure their wool's micron, colour and crimp in real time.
For many woolgrowers, fibre measurement is a key part of their selection and breeding program, as it improves selection accuracy, ensures a better quality of wool and, in turn, increases profitability.
Bronte Blyth, Stud Principal at Carricowie Poll Merino Stud at Brentwood in South Australia says the prospect of being able to assess micron on farm is "exciting."
"The potential for an app like this is huge," Mr Blyth said.
"As long as the accuracy can be guaranteed.
"To me, that would be the biggest issue - ensuring accuracy of the micron measurement."
AWI says the app will be useful at wool classing to enable saleable lines of wool that have uniform characteristics that meet the requirements of processing mills.
Current methods of measuring individual fleece traits (such as fibre diameter) on-farm, or sending samples to a laboratory for measurement, can be costly, time-consuming, or unavailable at the time they are needed by woolgrowers due to high demand when shearing conditions are right.
Mr Blyth agrees with this sentiment.
"From a breeder point of view, there would be big cost saving from not needing to send fleece samples away," Mr Blyth said.
"In a general situation during shearing though, when fleeces are put all together in bales, I'm not sure it will be that useful.
"However, I can see advantages from a commercial side for selling particular lines such as superfine wool."
Read More
As part of their investment, AWI has teamed up with Australian start-up company Zondii.
Zondii is a global technology company that instantly verifies and validates food and fibre using a smartphone.
"Research is investigating whether the company's patented Artificial Intelligence imaging technology can be used to successfully measure wool's micron, and potentially colour and crimp," said AWI Program Manager Agri-Technology, Carolina Diaz.
The project aims to enable woolgrowers to utilise the Zondii technology to conveniently scan wool in-shed and detect wool traits.
While using a smartphone, there is no requirement to be connected to the internet after the initial download of the software done at the time of purchase.
Mr Blyth said this is definitely a positive factor of the proposed app.
"With so many rural areas suffering from poor internet connection, the fact that this app doesn't require any service while using it is fantastic," he said.
While use by a smartphone would be cheaper and achieve better industry adoption than a separate handheld scanner, AWI says a separate device might have advantages such as being more robust against dirt than a smartphone.
Zondii is also investigating the possibility of testing wool while it is still on the sheep in the drafting run, prior to shearing.
"Being on-farm during shearing, I was able to see first-hand the challenges R&D faced in trying to keep up with the speed of shearing and class wool into the most profitable lines," CEO and Founder of Zondii, Danielle Morton said.
The basic process of the app is to use the smartphone's camera to scan the wool where it takes multiple images in quick succession.
Using patented Artificial Intelligence, a database is created to store spectral signatures for wool fibre diameter; micron.
The interface then analyses the data captured during the scanning process and provide insights on the wool micron within seconds.
Zondii is seeking early adopters to help validate the authenticity and provenance of the app.
Further information can be found on their website.
