Jeremy and Catherine Drew

By using the web-based program, Woolcheque, Jeremy and Catherine Drew have confidence that their wool valuations are solid and believe they are getting market value for their product.

Farming on red gum country, 65kms north of Hamilton in Western Victoria, the Drews run a self-replacing Merino flock on their 2250 hectare property, Willah.

"We grow fine wool, around 18 micron, which is our principal business," Mr Drew said.

When Jeremy Drew first heard about Woolcheque – a wool pricing tool for Australian woolgrowers - he had just sold his last lot of wool for the year.

“We sell all our wool through the auction system and understand that prices on each and every day vary around an average price.  Sometimes prices are lower than expected, sometimes they’re higher.”

The Drews set reasonably high reserves and don’t expect to sell every lot that they put up for auction on the day. 

"It's important to understand what the values are," Mr Drew added.

“We have been doing this in a couple of ways - by using a broker who we have a good relationship with plus we also use an independent valuer, giving us two valuations on our clip.

"I'm always looking independent information for marketing my wool and with Woolcheque I have another string to my bow to help me set those reserves."

The Drews pass in anything up to a third of their offered wool.  They re-offer the wool and some is passed in two or three times prior to reaching a desired price.

"That's not a problem in our industry – it’s just part of the way the market works,” he explained.

"What we really like about the Woolcheque is that there is an extensive database whereby with every lot of wool that’s sold at auction, the description and the price of that wool are known.

"What Woolcheque does, in a very simple way, is analyse data and allows prices to be calculated on Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) auction data.

"It's simple to navigate and the program not only prices our wool, but looks at different clip scenarios and flock management strategies.  It gives us a good  understanding of market trends, both short and long term."

He said growers could access daily prices and assess them independently using the latest market information.  Prices were updated after every sale and based on the same pricing method as the AWEX market reporting system.

Mr Drew said having a sound idea of what his wool was worth was very important in terms of his marketing.

"By setting firm reserves, I’m making sure I don’t get wool sold at the tail end of the prices for that day,” he added.

"It also means we’re not valuing wool unrealistically.

"We are making decisions with our wool broker based on their skills and knowledge and Woolcheque's independent market information".

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