The University of New England is licenced by the Trust to deliver this module as part of its formal curriculum. Students from other Universities may also enrol.
Educational Institutions. other than the University of New England, wishing to utilise these resources as research and/or reference materials will be provided a copy of all the materials, including source documents in Microsoft Word format, subject to their acceptance of a licencing contract with the Australian Wool Education Trust. This contract spells out their obligations to AWET and the limitations in the use of the materials. Such institutions must have an appropriate licence with the Copyright Agency Ltd.
Institutions or individuals who wish to utilise the materials as references or for self education will be provided access to the source documentation in PDF format only, subject to their acceptance of the terms and conditions.
Any questions or requests for additional information should be directed to: wool.education@woolwise.com
This subject covers the preparation and marketing of Australian wool clips. There are four main modules:
By the end of this intoductory topic you should have:
This topic consists of three parts.
The procedures involved in classing methods are described and their efficacy in terms of preparing fleeces lines for marketing and subsequent processing are examined.
On completion of this section you should be able to explain:
The sorting of skirted fleeces from the same mob on the basis of quality number is not effective in achieving worthwhile differences in fibre diameter, or in improving the variability of fibre diameter. Traditional procedures did improve the visual uniformity of classed lines for valuation purposes but the availability of presale test information reduced this requirement. Provided pre-sale test information was available, it was now permissible to place most of the skirted fleeces from a mob in a single line increasing lot size and reducing costs.
This section will provide:
This lecture examines the efficacy of classing fleeces on the basis of subjective estimates of staple strength or “tenderness”. The differences achieved in terms of measured staple strength and the processing consequences of these differences are examined.
This lecture will provide an understanding of:
New technology has enabled clip preparation to be more effective in producing lines that differ significantly in average fibre diameter. This is likely to be more profitable than producing one larger line for the fleeces from a mob of sheep whose average fibre diameter lies near the inflexion point of the curvilinear relationship between price and fibre diameter. The process is dependent upon the variation among fleeces, the accuracy of the in-shed measurement techniques and prevailing prices for different fibre diameter categories. The use of in-shed measurement as a tool for sheep selection offers considerable promise. The measurement of characteristics other than fibre diameter may be of some value in sheep selection but their influence on clip preparation appears to be marginal.
On completion of this topic you should be familiar with:
Topic 4: Shearing
This topic consists of two parts.
A particular time of shearing that improves one aspect of wool production or animal management often undesirably affects another factor. By the end of these lectures, you should appreciate that deciding on a time of shearing is seldom a clear-cut choice, but rather involves balancing the advantages and disadvantages of any particular time in a particular region.
On completion you should have an understanding of:
This lecture describes the alternative shearing practices of Bioclip, ShearExpress and Robotic shearing that have been researched, developed or commercialised over recent years.
Upon completion you will have an understanding of alternative technologies for shearing sheep.
The value of wool is determined by both the measured attributes such as diameter, staple length and strength, position of break, vegetable matter content (and type) and yield along with a range of unmeasured or appraised attributes such as type and style and greasy colour. This topic provides a description of these two un-measured attributes, discusses some of the history associated with them, their use and background on research undertaken to objectively measure them.
On completion of this topic you should have an understanding of style and type when describing raw wool and their effect on processing and pricing.
This topic looks at the development of the current woolclassing system in Australia and the philosophy of the code of practice that underpins the quality management aspects for such a system.
On completion you should have an understanding of:
This topic describes the wool marketing chain and details the role and nature of the various participants therein. It will start with an overall description followed by a more detailed analysis of each stage, the functions performed and the participants involved. Lastly the issues facing the wool marketing chain in the future will be briefly discussed.
On completion of this topic you should have:
This topic describes the characteristics of the main transfer of ownership methods for wool in Australia. On completion topic you should understand:
This topic consists of two parts.
This section describes the nature of price risk and how it is managed. It starts by looking at how price risk arises, why it exists and why it needs to be managed. The different attitudes to price risk are also considered in the context of the different types of participants that are typically exposed to market price fluctuations.
The presentation then goes on to examine the different types of price risk and describe how these are managed. The examples are drawn from a variety of markets including both commodity and financial markets. The management of price risk in the wool industry will be examined more specifically in Part 2.
On completion of Part 1 you should have an understanding of:
This section takes the concepts of price risk management and examines how these apply in the wool industry. It starts by reviewing the nature of price risk in the wool industry followed by a description of the various risk management products that are available to participants in the supply chain. It then goes on to examine how these products are used by the various types of industry participants.
On completion of Part 2 you should have an understanding of:
This lecture describes the development of alternatives to the traditional marketing system. Such developments have largely been driven from the producer end of the marketing chain and thus are basically alternatives to either selling at auction or to a private buyer.
The rationale for the development of alternatives to the traditional (auction / private buyer) system are examined along with the way in which the alternatives attempt to address perceived shortcomings. Specific examples of alternative marketing systems are used.
By the end you should have an understanding of:
This topic consists of three parts.
This section provides an introduction to the concept of wool growing as a ‘business’ and considers the interaction between the social (people), biological (farming) and business management aspects of the wool enterprise. Parts 2 and 3 will examine the issues introduced here in further detail.
On completion of Part 1 you should have developed an understanding of:
This section further develops the material introduced in Part 1 and considers the wool growing business as a production unit. It examines the characteristics of high-performing wool production businesses and considers the impact of a shift/diversification into meat and wool production. It also considers the impact of region on production and the nature of the production unit.
By the end you should have developed an understanding of:
In this section some of the links between the on- and post-farm sectors in the wool industry are introduced. As such, the content moves into the somewhat ‘grey’ space between agricultural production (science) and agricultural marketing. The agricultural marketing aspects are further developed in Topics 11 and 14. This section considers how the on-farm sector can become more market responsive and what might be some of the impediments to such a change. It also considers the role of technology in facilitating a new market-oriented outlook and responsiveness.
On completion you should have developed an understanding of:
Australian woolgrowers’ incomes are influenced by developments in the world and Australian economies within which they exist and within which they have to work. The links between the macroeconomic and external forces and growers’ incomes are not necessarily straightforward, not the least because the effects do not always work in a single direction.
On completion of this topic you should be able to:
This topic consists of three parts.
This section provides an introduction to marketing, both general principles and their application to the wool industry. It examines the definition of product and commodity and considers the implication of these for marketing system choice and development. The wool supply chain is also introduced.
On completion you should have developed an understanding of:
This section builds on the fundamental principles presented in Part 1 and develops the concept of the supply chain more fully. Specifically, this section looks at the role of supply chains in all their forms, and our understanding of how they function in both the wool industry and other agri-industry. It looks at how managed supply chain approaches differ from other types of marketing relationships and how supply chains are formed, maintained and managed. It also looks at the factors contributing to chain success and the role of communication within the chain.
On completion of you should have developed an understanding of:
This section builds on the general and fundamental principles presented in Part 2 with respect to both the way in which supply chain actors interact, and the concept of managed supply chain approaches. As mentioned in Part 2, it is important to remember that supply chains are simply structures, while supply chain management is a philosophy or approach to deal with the complexities and challenges facing modern business.
This section examines the specific characteristics of wool and how these relate to the raw wool consumer, be they a processing customer or apparel purchaser. It considers the current description of wool and the opportunities for improved description in the future. It also considers the competitive position of wool compared to other textile fibres and how the market share of wool has declined over the last 40-50 years. Finally it looks to the future and considers where wool may be 10-20 years from now.
On completion you should have developed an understanding of:
This topic consists of two parts.
This section describes the global textile industry, where apparel fits in and how change is a normal feature of the industry. The change is driven by new technology and changing economic circumstances between countries. References and reading material provided allow further study of the fibre, processing and distribution industries that combine to allow fibres to be sold as apparel.
On completion you should have an understanding of the:
This section describes the relationship of the wool industry to the fibres and textile markets. The wool fibre market is currently in the throws of change that were stimulated by technological development during the past three decades and the latest greasy stockpile liquidation.
On completion you should have an understanding of:
Topic 17: Wool Supply Overview
This topic outlines the key components of wool supply on an Australian and global wool basis.
On completion you should have an understanding of:
The demand for Australian wool ultimately derives from the demand for wool clothing at retail (e.g. suits, coats, sweaters), which in turn is a function of prices, consumer incomes, population size, tastes and preferences and promotion. Rich consumers in the developed markets overseas with high discretionary incomes (e.g. the US and EU) are still the major consumers of Australian wool, but consumers in the populous developing world (especially China and India) offer significant potential growth.
On completion of this topic you should:
This topic consists of three parts.
This section provides an introduction to wool promotion. It examines the history of wool promotion, particularly the use, role and evolution of the ‘Woolmark’ and the structures which have supported the brand over time. It also considers the role of generic and targeted promotion strategies.
By the end you should have developed an understanding of:
This section builds on the approaches to promotion described in Part 1 and looks at the influence of technology on promotion. Technology influences both the wool industry and competing fibres and can impact through generating improved production efficiencies, better information flow and a range of other mechanisms. As technology continues to evolve, its impact on our industry will continue to be far-reaching.
By the end you should have developed an understanding of:
This section completes the series on product promotion. Through the series we have looked at the history of wool promotion and its evolution. We have examined the nature of generic and targeted promotion along with the use of technology to support promotion and its role in the development of new products with enhanced consumer appeal. This lecture looks to the future in terms of the consumer, the models used for promotion, and the context in which wool is used. It also examines the role of production regions as marketing concepts in themselves.
By the end you should have developed an understanding of:
This topic consists of two parts.
This section outlines the properties of wool and its competitor fibres that are of value in textile processing and products. Some of the definitions have already been covered in early topics but here we look at them more specifically in terms of processing outcomes.
On completion you should be able to:
This section outlines the principle steps in converting wool into consumer products via the three main spinning routes and principle methods of wool fabric formation.
On completion you should be able to:
This topic reviews and summarises the 20 previous topics covered in Clip Preparation and Wool Marketing.