He has identified a key challenge in getting young producers to dive into what he calls "the new sheep and wool industry".

The managing director of Fletcher International Group and Australian Wool Innovation Limited (AWI) director sees a new golden age emerging for sheep as new technologies and management systems evolve. "There's more money in sheep today than in any other rangeland activity," he says.

"People walked away from sheep and wool in the past because they had concerns about mulesing, concerns about dingo attacks and of course because of the prolonged drought.

"Another major industry problem has been its failure to capture the imagination of young people," he said.

"To maintain the attention of young people, the job has to be interesting and profitable."