The Yarn

From 10-pound pom to OAM, Bob Hall talks of the changes through 50 years as a sheep consultant and why the future looks so bright for sheep and wool.

160 students from right across Australia attended the National Merino Challenge (NMC) to learn about wool and sheep. What do secondary and tertiary students learn and how does this provide a career pathway into the great Australian wool industry? Hear from those who have made the NMC the great educational success story it is today.

Ian O’Connell has over 50 years working and training working dogs. Hear what it takes to work better with your best mates.

China, Japan, Korea and India are giants when it comes to the processing and consumption of Australian wool but with the global economy slowing down, how is wool positioned to stay at high demand levels? Hear from Woolmark’s John Roberts, GM Eastern Hemisphere about the initiatives across Asia and also trade analyst Scott Carmody about the sentiment of the raw wool auction rooms.

Four years into the ten-year long MLP Project, the industry experts from the MLP Industry Steering Committee share the successes of the project so far and the outcomes the industry hopes to see in the future.

Woolgrower, historian and author of "Call of the Reed Warbler”, Charles Massy is now an advocate, hear why.

Merino wool competes in the world's oldest annual marathon alongside a growing international community of athletes.

Once a mainstay of the Queensland economy, the wool and sheep industry has shrunk to a shadow of its former self thanks in part to prices, drought and wild dogs over many years. But a quiet rebuild is in underway with a massive commitment to exclusion fencing and flock restructure, farmers are keen to return to sheep when the rains also return.

Dr. Jason Trompf has a lifetime of experience as a researcher, consultant, facilitator and head of AWI's Victorian extension network, Best Wool, Best Lamb. AWI's Marius Cuming speaks to Jason about the four key pillars of practical change and the integration of education into farming communities. Jason also practices what he preaches, running around 3,000 meat composite ewes in the North East of V...

Capping off our Western Australian series, we head to Cranmore farming to discuss the benefits of Merinos in a mixed farming operation. We also talk to AWI’s WA wild dog coordinator Meja Aldrich, about the management and control of wild dogs in sheep producing areas.

Shearing technique, shearing shed design and building, shearer training; it’s all in Don Boyle’s repertoire. Hear how one man went from a handpiece at 15 to over 20,000 sheep in one lifetime. Having spent so long in sheds, he now designs and builds woolsheds with sheep, woolhandlers and shearers in mind. Hear what works for all.

The Sheep Collective has been formed to tell the stories of the people, sheep and landscape behind the live sheep trade. Can it continue and how? Hear Dr Holly Ludeman explain.

We head to Western Australia to hear how mixed farmers in the wheatbelt have improved their overall sheep/cropping enterprise by adopting electronic tagging and the AWI/RIST Lifetime Ewe Management course.

Head to far south west NSW and hear some of the epic stories of the Australian wool industry. Wool still plays a significant role for the farming families in this part of the world where horizons are broad, rains are rare but people are warm and welcoming despite facing some unique challenges.

Queensland farmers have been through a lot. From scorching droughts to the recent flooding and the persistent attacks from wild dogs, the elements have thrown everything at Queensland’s rural communities. But at the recent Australian Wool Network conference held in Longreach, the optimism of the Queensland woolgrowers shone through. Ella Edwards and Anna Buckley from The Woolmark Company – AWI’s m...

How long does it take from sheep to shop? Who makes the decisions about what wool design and colour is ultimately seen at retail? In this episode learn some of the ins and outs of the complicated, wonderful world of fashion and the Woolmark’s company’s key role involved throughout.

Merino consultant Craig Wilson discusses the Peter Westblade scholarship and the great opportunities around Merino into the future. Also, hear from Beyond the Bale editor Richard Smith about his favourite stories and how to get your stories in Australia’s most read wool magazine.

The wool market has started the year with strong demand followed by consolidation. Given the ongoing drought, supply and what retail sales are doing in the key northern hemisphere winter, what can we expect this year for the wool market? Hear from AWI trade consultant Scott Carmody and AWI graduate Ben Madgwick.

450 donors have grown the next 100 years of baggy greens for the Australian cricket team Gideon Haigh, the country’s best cricket writer discussed his book that celebrates this historic project. We meet Stephen Field, cricket-mad woolgrower and donor who explains why he loves the game and the fibre.

Woolgrower, innovator and agriculture entrepreneur Nigel Kerin speaks about innovations in the wool industry and what new technology he is keen to implement into his business.

Catriona Nicholls and Madeline Scott have been the movers and shakers in getting the Learn About Wool resource in alignment with Australia’s school curriculum. Teachers can lift the free resource straight from the website or order a full Learn About Wool kit and deliver lesson plans that focus on Australian wool that is specific for their class.

We all want to make shearing less labour intensive but how to actually achieve this has stumped many shearers, engineers and entrepreneurs. Researchers at the University of Technology, Sydney are taking an entirely novel approach by creating possibly the worlds first 3D printed sheep in their quest to solve the robotic shearing quandary. Hear from shearing legend and AWI’s Shearing Industry Develo...

The wool market has enjoyed a very strong run over the last 12 months with the benchmark eastern market indicator up about 25% year on year. But in recent weeks, uncertainty has crept into the market. Today we examine, in some detail, both the short and the long-term drivers in the wool market. We speak with AWI Trade Consultant Scott Carmody about the factors driving the wool price and then we he...

Craig Heggaton from Kojonup in West Australia has a wool and sheep enterprise that has grown well beyond the woolshed and has a tip on keeping quality staff. Hear also from the manager of Tecka station in Argentina, a massive enterprise producing great fine Merino wool in a harsh climate.

Peta Slack-Smith, General Manager of Corporate Affairs at AWI interviewed a number of industry representatives at the consultation workshop organised by AWI this week. Ed Storey, the Senior Vice President of Wool Producers Australia, Andrew Wood the Chair New South Wales Farmers Committee and President of the Wool Council and Alan Rae, the President of AgForce’s Sheep and Wool Board, reveal what t...