THE patron of the Campaign for Wool King Charles III alongside the organisation’s New Zealand chair Tom O’Sullivan. PHOTO SUPPLIED
CAMPAIGN for Wool chair Tom O’Sullivan blamed poor leadership, industry disunity and waste of resources among factors that have devastated the financial returns for coarse wool. Speaking at a sustainability of strong wools seminar held in Taumarunui last month, Tom reminded about 30 farmers and agriculturalists present that though in decline in recent decades, with the trend heightened by the disruption to global trade caused by Covid, New Zealand was the largest exporter of strong wool in the world.
LOWEST POINT However, prices were now at their lowest point, driving a significant decline in sheep numbers and the amount of wool produced – from 58 million sheep producing 305,000 tonnes of wool in 1990, to 27 million sheep producing 140,000 tonnes of wool in 2020. Tom described a mixed picture to the meeting organised by the Taumarunui Land Management Group. “In New Zealand of the wool we produce about 10% is merino. And they get, say, $15 a kilo greasy. And then there is a little bit of wool in between – a bit of Corriedale and half-bred mid-micron, earning for argument’s sake $10 a kilo. But 80% to 85% of what we produce in New Zealand is thicker-micron strong wool. And that’s the one that let’s just say on average, a farmer might now be getting $2 a kilo for. “But it’s probably costing him $3 a kilo to produce that one kilo in terms of shearing. So, when I look at bale of wool weighing 160 kilos, every one which goes outside a farmer’s shed is a net cost to him of $16 at the moment. “This is horrendous.” Tom said he was a fourth-generation sheep farmer, the family’s last property having been a sheep, cattle and deer station in Hawkes Bay which he ran for 12 years. He had also been involved in the meat industry and in manufacturing, providing him a good grasp of attitudes on both sides of the farm gate.
UP AGAINST IT “It’s always good to hear the views of farmers and we had a pretty a good discussion at Taumarunui, but they made it clear they were up against it. Such audiences always ask me how we got into this position, and I can only give my view.” Tom saw the pinnacle of strong wool production as 1953, when his grandfather paid off a 1700 acre-block he farmed in mid-Canterbury with a single wool cheque. It was during the Korean War and armies were crying out for wool for warm clothing. “Dad was one of seven brothers; he and his little brothers were all out there picking the wool off barbed wire fences; at the time they were getting almost a pound (note) for a pound of wool. “In today’s money receiving your wool cheque could be worth millions, literally like winning lotto.” But for the O’Sullivan family, 2019 had been the first year in four generations of farming sheep, that the cost of shearing their sheep was more that the revenue their wool earned.
APPALLING “So wool effectively went that year from a revenue stream to a net cost for the business, which is appalling really.” As somebody relatively new to the Campaign For Wool Tom said he had come in with no political agenda, most of his career had been in the meat industry and manufacturing. The organisation and it had backing from powerful people. “Our patron has been King Charles III, who is a passionate environmentalist and wool advocate. We met him in 2019 and he impressed as all with his knowledge. I am not sure, but I assume he may not carry on as our patron due to the pressures of being King. We may get William now – who knows. “I got involved as one of seven trustees on the New Zealand board; some of us are farmers and some of from the wool industry. Our mandate is promoting educational awareness of wool. HOODWINKED “The world has been absolutely hoodwinked and captivated with synthetic and plastic alternatives to wool for three or three or four decades. Over-reliance on these is across all the products we consume. Obviously we see it a lot in apparel, but it’s everywhere. “A good example for strong wool is the carpet industry where in the 50s and 60s in New Zealand about 80% of what was sold, was wool. Today wool carpet represents only about 15% of market share. At the end of the end of the day, most Kiwis are still putting a plastics-based product on their floors.” Consumers had been okay with this for decades because its cheap and reasonably hard wearing but only more recently have they realised to environmental effects. “There’s all that microplastic being released into the environment and the plastic waste ultimately being sent to landfills. This was certainly something King Charles wanted to talk about in 2019.” GATHERING SPEED Tom said as more consumers now realised this how bad synthetics were for the environment a popular movement away from petrochemical products and a search for alternatives was gathering speed. “It’s hard to pick up a newspaper without reading stories about damage to the environment and global warming derived from the oil industry, especially the phenomenon of microplastics in the oceans. My point here is that there has been a massive movement of consumers away from using cheap disposable plastics.” But his view of the wool industry was that far from being in a position to fully take advantage of the change in thinking, it had become a cot case. “My dad, who is in his 80s, is typical of the older generation of sheep farmers disenchanted with their leadership over the years. He just says to me ‘those wool bastards have ripped us off for years’ And I think he’s right. ‘PEEING BUDGET UP AGAINST THE WALL’ “Looking back a lot of old, pale, stale males have been travelling around the world in the front of the plane, filling out their expenses, peeing the promotional budget up against the wall while they essentially do nothing. That’s my view on it too. “New Zealand wool industry has been run by ‘names’ rather than ‘brains’. ‘Somebody in a leadership role would hand over his role to his son, or cousin. Leadership positions used to be allocated on the basis of succession,’ he said. “But what the wool industry needs is brains, by which I mean the ability to sell wool, I mean there’s a huge opportunity for strong wool with this movement of consumers. We need really smart marketing people to be able to position wool as the natural super fibre that will tick the boxes environmentally and sustainability wise.” FRAGMENTED Tom said the industry had also been particularly fragmented. From early 2000s the farmers voted on mass to stop paying a levy on wool because they felt (which went towards research and development as well as promotion). But interestingly there is all sorts of murkiness when you dig into it. He claimed money had been wasted in some areas of research, such as efforts to turn wool into powders. “To me some of the exporters are old school guys that are just commodity traders. They are not doing anything much to turn the dial. They seem happy to milk it right through till it dies sort, which is terrible really. “On the positive I think the wool industry in New Zealand, and natural fibres, have the biggest opportunity they have ever had with this major global movement by consumers. And particularly young consumers. “I have two young daughters who are only 11 and nine and they certainly have a very clear understanding that plastic and synthetics are negatives (for the planet). They really do start to ask. ‘what is it made of, is it sustainable, is it complimentary to the environment or detrimental’.” Tom pointed out that in 2020, Bremworth Carpets had shifted to only producing woollen products. MIXED STORY “They concluded they were telling a bit of a mixed story. On one hand saying how beautiful and natural wool was but on the other hand quite happy to go and sell plastic-based carpets. So they chopped 60% of their business out which had been synthetics and plastics.”: Tom had come to Taumarunui from attending a high-end furniture launch in Auckland. “It was a brand collaboration with Wise Wool, a wool business out of Gisborne. And they are looking to add value with wool. We have seen many businesses wanting to get natural wool into their products; many furniture manufacturers now want wool filling and upholstery. We are seeing it in all areas. “In apparel, the thicker fibre of strong wool is prickly, so at present cannot put it into garments worn against the skin. But I understand there is research going on to try to solve that through science and technology. So at present we see the main potential for strong wool in the built environment. Not just residential homes, but also commercial buildings airliners, cruise ships, you name it. “That is a market worth billions if you can get into it. Wool has not been considered for all it can do. I think even today 65% of it still goes into flooring. We just haven’t diversified enough. MUST UNITE “I meet many influencers, innovators, entrepreneurs and like-minded people, all of whom have a positive vision for strong wool. But the main problem our industry has been fragmented for years – we must unite [to survive].’ “When I spoke to Minister of Agriculture Damion O’Connor a few years ago he was brutally frank and rightfully so. He didn’t think the Government or wool farmers wanted to put a cent into the industry unless it could get its [act] together and unite behind a common strategy. “They don’t want to see us fighting among ourselves and not agreeing.”
