"I’m adamant it will [increase], I’m only 35 so I can wait another 30 years."
A "good crew" from South West Shearing were harvesting wool from about 2300 Romney hoggets on his 3500ha property Hill Springs over two days last week.
"We had a gap in the weather and got her done."
A sheep was shorn twice in its first year on Hill Springs.
Lambs were shorn in summer "so they grow better".
"We get the wool off and it gets them going."
The hogget flocks were shorn about now because they were due.
He was keen to get the wool removed from the hoggets as the flock starts to defecate more at this time of year and shearing avoids them getting daggy, he said.
As the first two shears did not produce as much wool as when they were ewes, shearing was more of a management practice, rather than a way to cover costs.
When a sheep was shorn for the third time on Hill Springs, it was at the same time as all the other ewes, once a year before lambing.
The income from the ewe wool clip paid for the cost of shearing and crutching, he said.
He had never considered introducing wool shedding genetics to the flock.
His Romney flock had the genetics required to produce heavier lambs than a shedding breed in Central Otago conditions.
Lambs were born up to 700m above sea level on the extensive hill country property.
Also he feared if he did introduce shedding genetics to his flock, demand for strong wool would go "gangbusters" a few years later.
"That’s Murphy’s Law."
If a farmer in other parts of the South was shearing ewes twice a year, he could understand the introduction of shedding genetics being more of a consideration..
"We only shear once a year because it works for our environment."
Strong wool growers once hoped manufacturers of traditional wool products, such as carpets, would increase demand for the fibre.
"That never happened."
He believed demand for strong wool would rise from use in new products, such as air filtration systems.
"I think that is the solution. I’m adamant we will get there."
Livestock on Hill Springs includes about 6500 ewes, mostly Romneys, and 430 beef cows, Angus and Hereford cross.
Nearly all of the livestock was finished on-farm, with exception of some beef calves.
In the next year or two, a plan was to remove a few hundred ewes from the system so they could finish all livestock on-farm.
A rise in sheep and beef prices had allowed for development work to resume on farm.
"To improve the place, rather than just running it. For a couple of years I had to just run the place because that is all you could do."
