I am surprised at how many people are saying how dry it is. 

I guess we haven’t had too many rainfall events over summer, but this is very typical at this time of the year.  Would love an early break though.

What a stellar year it’s been for wool and sheep prices over the past 12 months, and fundamentally the industry looks well-placed to sustain higher commodity prices into the future. 

Producers that have stuck to merino sheep are finally being rewarded. 

We recently sold our first line of wool under the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) banner and found a premium of nine per cent above similar wool type. 

Our certification was a long process with plenty of dialogue with wool processors and well-established fashion brands that woolgrowers never seem to have. 

We are now seeing fashion brands wanting to become closer to producers that supply their wool. 

There is definite benefit for fashion brands to become aligned with producers and to “tell the story” of the product and how it is produced. 

One of the most appealing aspects to the RWS certification is that the whole chain of supply takes responsibility to provide the best product possible. 

All participants in the supply chain need to be registered and have certification that they meet certain standards. 

We are stronger and more united if we are all moving together in the one direction.

I know that we are all looking to decrease the red tape in our industry, and more levels of compliance certainly do not do this, but the RWS certification and process has been a positive in that it makes our business better. 

We are listening to customers and delivering what they want. 

Areas of our business need improving and we can continually do better, but by being involved in such certifications we have plans in place to make these improvements. 

If Australian farmers look to break out of the bulk commodity market and supply high end and high value products, we need to deliver the best possible product.

Into the future, brands will want to be close to producers that can supply exactly what they want, with a robust integrity system that guarantees their customers they are buying the best possible product.

We have continued to have great success with our Glambskin products that are now in one of the highest end furniture stores in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. 

Jardan has been a great company to be involved in and we have had great support from them for the product we are delivering. 

There is an excellent article in their online magazine.

We have also been in partnership with a number of organisation in the trialling of dry-aged mutton. 

This has been an interesting exercise to be involved in and the whole benefits for the industry are significant. 

There are certainly many challenges, Victorian regulations being one of the main ones.

However, the potential health benefits, nutritional value and the turning of an undervalued product into a high-end product are worth pursuing and being involved in.

Our recent AI program went well. 

It is always a bit nervous doing it in February as we can get some real heatwaves that can decrease conception rates and kill the ram’s semen. 

Although it was hot, early starts and movement of sheep in the cooler times of the day has hopefully helped.  We have just completed two days of muscle and fat scanning of 17 drop ewes and rams. 

Looks like we are feeding for the next six to eight weeks at least; hopefully we can get some contractors in to get some early sheep feed sown over the next few weeks as we work up to shearing time in May. 

We have recently purchased a laser scan in-shed tester to test every fleece. We need this to get our ASBVs for wool traits, but as we are in negotiation with a number of wool buyers we can also segment our wool to their needs. Here’s hoping everyone has a safe sowing season.