IN HIS quest to grow the best ultrafine wool he can, John Ive, “Talaheni”, Yass Valley, is prepared to source the best genetics to prove the viability of his small farm north of Canberra.
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Mr Ive was raised on a farm in Victoria’s Western Districts, and despite a career in the Northern Territory and Canberra with the CSIRO, he always had a hankering to own a farm.
With his wife Robyn, and children Carolynn and Steven, Mr Ives runs 800 ultrafine Merino ewes and 25 cows on the 250 hectare property.
After 24 years, areas of salinity have been reclaimed, and the entire property refenced.
“We only have a small area, and the first ewes I bought from “Narra Allen”, Boorowa, were 19-micron wool growers and I realised I needed to get finer if I was to remain viable,” Mr Ive said.
Mr Ive said his cost of production was about 1950 cents a kilogram, so he had to sell his wool at the higher end of the market.
“We haven’t sold any of our top fleece lines for a couple of years, and will hold them until the market improves,” he said.
Mr Ive has purchased rams from many of the leading studs in southern NSW and Victoria, including his most recent purchase at the Great Southern Stud Merino sale (GSSM) in 2014.
The ram, with a mean micron of 14.8 and co-efficient of variation of fibre diameter (CV) of 13.5, was purchased from the draft offered by the Merrignee Merino stud, Boorowa.
Mr Ive is confident of achieving his aim of growing a very fine but heavy fleece on a good-sized sheep.
He admits the main factor in producing superior ultrafine wool is to maintain high staple strength as well as the deep crimp desired by the Italian spinners.
“We maintain our ewes in sufficient body condition to ensure the strength is more than 50 newtons per kilotex, with a 75 to 77 per cent yield,” he said.
Carolynn Ive selected the Merrignee-bred ram at the 2014 GSSM sale.
“I look at the conformation of the ram before I start handling the wool,” Ms Ive said.
“When I find a ram I like, with good shoulders and back, I then look at the wool on the poll and the softness of his nose, but it shouldn’t be too woolly.
“I was told once, if the nose is nice and soft, you can be reasonably certain the rest of the fleece will also be soft.”
Mr Ive had confidence in the superfine end of the market, but was fortunate to have a regular clientele buying his wether weaners off shears.
