Wise up to wool's worth

Riwaka-based wool buyer Brett Bolton believes consumer education about the benefits of wool is key to the future of the wool industry. When Brett Bolton's son brought home a new Swanndri for hunting the other day, his heart sank. The jacket was 90 per cent polyester. For a man who has devoted 40 years to the wool industry, it confirmed what he knows is wrong with the wool industry. "We have lost a whole generation who do not know the benefit of wool," he says reports The Nelson Mail. That means a generation of consumers who don't buy woollen products, which means a lack of demand for wool, leading to a drop in grower returns, and ultimately fewer sheep being farmed for wool. The HDawson group of companies, based in Bradford, England, is one of the largest wool companies in the world, buying wool from farmers in more than 45 countries and selling it to 70 countries. He sees too much infighting in the wool industry, exporters undercutting one another, and farmers despondent over low returns."I feel sad about it, wool is a really good product and for a lack of education we are not reaping the benefits of it."With farmers dumping the wool levy, HDawson New Zealand managing director Keith Cowan sees the move as a chance to start again. "We have to grab it in a positive way and do it properly," he says. Mr Carter will hold a wool sector summit on October 1 to discuss its future direction, and Mr Cowan stresses to him that while wool supply is important, demand is more so.He'd like to see exporters get behind Woolmark as a worldwide standard. "It's wool and it works," he says. HDawson is working on wool projects ranging from machine washable wool comforters (bedding), to wool coffins that are naturally biodegradable, to wool packaging that absorbs moisture away from the product.Next week the first carpet will be laid in Christchurch from a project that produces carpet made from Texel crossbred wool and gives better returns to farmers here.