Country Life: Nuffield scholar see's bright future for natural fibre

There are hopes wool may be about to have its moment in the sun once again, if New Zealand's sheep farmers can just hang on a little longer.

In the meantime, there are things they can focus on to ensure they're getting the best returns for their wool.

That was the focus of Wairarapa-based Lisa Portas' research looking into why New Zealand's strong-wool sector struggles to capture value despite producing a sustainable fibre, a study she recently completed as a Nuffield Scholar.

She told Country Life it was a "heck of an experience".

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Portas estimates she has probably clocked up about 50 flights in the past year, travelling to parts of the United States, United Kingdom and Europe where she looked at how wool businesses there were achieving stronger returns.

"I was looking for kind of those markets that might already value some of the things that are already happening here on New Zealand farms."

She said the EU in particular was known as a leader in prioritising sustainability when thinking about the ingredients that go into the products they procure.

In the United States, she saw a lot of wool also being sold in tandem with carbon credits from the farm, having a complete system or separate income stream relating to it.

She also noted procurement offices throughout the US and Europe really looking at the data.

"Not just written pieces, you know, real soil testing, biodiversity metrics - a whole lot of things that I think we are already capturing in a lot of different ways. I think it's just how do we translate that to a market that values it."

Portas said there was a lot happening in the wool industry at the moment and it was an "incredibly exciting time".

She said it wasn't about changing systems entirely, but looking at what farmers were already doing and finding programmes that fit with that.

"What I've tried to share in my research is for those who are holding on and really certain that uplift is coming - as I am - here's some ways, here's some data that you might already be capturing that would be of benefit to your broker to position you better.

"Here's some accreditations that have some value offshore and just aligning those things with the business you're already running."

As far as the recent rise in prices - some not seen in 15 years - she questioned whether this was the influence of a declining wool clip having put pressure on supplies and driving prices up.

"I think there's maybe a little bit of supply and demand going on there but I think the world is getting a lot louder around synthetics and end of life and what the start of those products look like and I think once that really comes to the fore, wool's going to be exceptionally competitive."

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You can find out more about Lisa's research here.