RELBIA sheep farmer Oli Lindsay hasn’t had time to savour the results of a good Tasmanian Wool Sale in Melbourne late last month.
He and his father, Peter, have been flat out shearing up on the Central Highlands property they are developing.
“It’s a beautiful block, pretty much an open canvas, a lot to do, but exciting,” said Oli.
But he has stopped long enough to clock that the traditional annual sale of Tasmanian wool achieved the result he was hoping for.
“We had held over some stronger, broader type from some older ewes from May, last year and it sold really well,” Oli said.
The Lindsay’s split shearing in May and June last year and, on their broker Rob Calvert’s advice, decided the broader type might sell better later in the season.
“This was probably at the very end of the superfine range,” Oli said.
“We had 17 bales held over – we’d already sold around 65 bales in sales in 2021.”
The 17 held over sold for a top greasy price of 1618 cents and a top clean price of just under 2300 cents.
Wool Solution’s Alistair Calvert was at the Tasmanian sale in Melbourne.
“There were about 7000 bales and they sold really well over three days,” Alistair said.
“The buyers were going for quality and the quality can deteriorate towards the end of the season on the mainland with vegetable matter etc., so our wools were sought after and did really well.”
China remains the dominant buyer of Australian wool in 2022, Alistair said.
“It’s still buying about 80 per cent of the Australian clip,” he said.
“Although Europe has become more of a player in the superfine end of the market.”
Europe has been quiet for a couple of years so there appears to be a bit of “pent up demand,” as the European buyers play catch up, he said.
That provides a perfect storm for Australian and Tasmanian growers as Europe tries to buy and China maintains its interest, he said.
“We’ve been saying that the market has been doing well for eight months,” Alistair said.
“That’s a long time for it to be up but I think that it’s a sign of things to come and it will continue to hold.”
Meanwhile Oli Lindsay and his father continue to build the quality of their flock on the Corra Lin property they share farm with Peter Dixon.
“We started in 2017 and we’ve been buying five-year-old ewes and trying to get a few lambs and buying and replacing them.
We’re right on the cusp now of being self-sufficient,” Oli said.
“We’re about to get irrigation on board and that will lift productivity again. Then we can really do a good job of growing lambs.”