The occurrence of “faults” in greasy Australian Merino wool is of concern to our global processors.

Australian wool may contain faults; however, objective measurement and visual appraisal allow these faults to be identified and quantified, thus buyers have the necessary information to make informed purchasing decisions. The main fault categories are:

• Contamination by wool or non-wool materials.
• Staple strength and position of staple break.

Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI) is working to improve technologies underpinning current greasy wool trading and boost pipeline adoption of a wider range of wool fibre specifications.

This research aims to:

• Reduce the real and perceived wool and non-wool contamination of the Australian wool clip through the vendor declaration scheme and a low cost pre-sale test
• Build demand for Australian Merino wool