Twenty-one finalists lined up for the state final of the 2018 Merino fleece young judges competition at Sydney Royal.

The wool market managed to struggle through the sudden surge in supply volume after the Easter recess.

Australian agricultural industry groups are bracing for attacks from animal activists globally following the recent release of an explosive documentary which claims to “expose the dark underbelly of modern animal agriculture”.

The offering at auction clearly exceeded buyer demanded with 10 per cent and 5pc pass in rates across the two days.

Good wools maintained their values while poorer styles sold lower during the past week.

Increased entries along with a lift in overall quality of the Corriedale sheep exhibited reflected the rise in sheep and wool prices across the board, and highlighted the true dual purpose characteristics of the breed.

This week a start-up Merino wool growers co-operative will start inviting ethically-minded producers to join its ranks. From the end of April it will take delivery of the world’s first blockchain traceability platform for fibre.

Ultrafine and Superfine merino producers exhibit top merinos

The wool market gained 27c on the back of a easing Australian dollar.

The self-funded trip organised by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) involved 12 young people who visited a number of manufacturers within the trade and meet with key AWI/Woolmark staff based in Asia.