Wool that goes around the world

Mark Richmond runs electric clippers down the belly of a sheep resting quietly on her back. In less than two minutes, she leaves her whole fleece behind in the corrugated steel woolshed and joins her peers in the Australian sun, emitting some parting bleats.

She is one of 68 million Australian sheep whose wool is exported around the world. Since 1787 when sheep set foot on Australian soil with the first fleet of convicts, sheep have been an important commodity on the island continent. Australia has long exported wool, first to England and now mostly to China, which imports 80 percent of Australia’s wool.

But Australia’s complicated relationship with China is changing the landscape of Australia’s wool production. In early April, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison signed an interim free trade agreement with India that reduces tariffs on wool from 5 percent to zero in attempts to decrease Australia’s dependence on China.

Morrison received criticism for dealing favorably with India, since India has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has also increased its Russian oil purchases even while other countries ban them.

When Richmond sheared his sheep in November 2021, tensions over Taiwan were high between Australia and China. Richmond told his brokers, “Sell everything. We’ll take the income now,” even though the prices weren’t the best.

Richmond has also diversified his flock from only Merino to include crossbred sheep for meat production. It’s not only about China. It’s also about the endurance of Merino garments versus food consumption. “Your woolen jumper [sweater] could sit in the closet for 20-30 years. But you buy a roast lamb, and you think, ‘Aw, that was really good.’ Next week you go and buy another roast lamb,” says Richmond.

All but 3 percent of Australia’s wool is shipped straight off the backs of sheep as “greasy wool.” The rest is processed at one of three remaining scouring mills in Australia. One of those, Riversdale Mills, is in the former wool capital of Geelong. Jim Robinson and his 40 employees run clients’ wool 24 hours every day of the week.

On this particular day, the washed wool is being sent to Lanificio Colombo in Italy for suits, to a wool spinner in India, and to Pendelton, Ore., for blankets. Another sells to AW Hainsworth in England, the company that makes the uniforms for the Queen’s royal guard.

Robinson points out that none of his Riversdale clients sell to China. His company is audited annually by the Responsible Wool Standard, which ensures animal welfare, good environmental practices, sustainability, and traceability standards. Ten years ago, Robinson installed a recovery plant that treats the dirt and waste from the cleaned wool. A local farmer composts the resulting dirt and plant matter and raises millet in the reclaimed soil.

Likewise, sheep grower Richmond has joined SustainaWool, which audits his practices every few years to make sure he’s complying with land, sheep, and employee care.

“There’s a lot more focus on us from outside with a lot of animal groups and people asking more questions about where the food’s coming from, where the fibers are coming from,” says Richmond.

Most of the fibers filter through China, the world’s largest producer of woolen garments and the world’s largest importer of wool. India, however, is seen as an emerging economy. Australian trade minister Dan Tehan said of Morrison’s recent trade deal with India, “We get access to the fastest-growing economy in the world.”

Andrew Blaszak has been tapping into that economy since he took over Interknit/Branberry 15 years ago. It’s the last rural knitting factory in Victoria, 1½ hours west of Melbourne.

Blaszak uses only Australian wool, purchased from a processing plant in India. If Blaszak kept the whole process onshore, his garment prices wouldn’t be competitive since the infrastructure no longer exists. Even with reimporting Australian wool yarn, his popular “farmer’s jumper” costs triple what one might find at the Australian equivalent of Walmart. But it lasts five times as long.

Richmond, Robinson, and Blaszak work with wool at different stages of the process, but they share an emphasis on quality and ethical practices. That benefits Australia long term.