A rise of 24 cents in the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) for wool plus buoyant saleyard returns for mutton and surplus sheep have been welcomed by producers.

Mangoplah wool producer Paul Cocking, “Kaloona”, also runs Riverina Wool Testers and he said the market outlook was as good as it had been in years.

He said the buoyant times were not just limited to fleece but the entire Merino industry was in good shape.

“The whole industry, especially Merinos is doing well at the moment,” he said.

“The industry doesn’t always sell itself but on a per hectare basis I think it could outperform most other industries,” Mr Cocking said.

The market kick was driven by supply and demand and interest in the fleece suitable for knit ware and woven products.

“Accross the board it is good,” Mr Cocking said.

“We have been selling all that we can produce and the best way forward is to keep getting our wool into the higher end markets,” he said.

Despite the price rise Mr Cocking said there would be few producers who had wool stored on farm.

“Anything that they have had has been offered to market, I think most of it has been sold,” he said.

Mr Cocking said one of the interesting aspects to the current market was the fact that multiple sectors were doing well.

“This is one of the first times we have seen prices so good across a variety of micron ranges and a variety of types,” he said.

“The short wool is selling amazing, so if you take the jump in those short wools plus the jump in the indicator overall it looks good,” he said.

Mr Cocking encouraged producers to use objective measurement to further improve the bottom line.

He said the aim was to improve wool cut, or kilograms cut per head.

And he also encouraged producers to wet and dry or pregnancy test their ewes to keep lambing percentages well managed.

“It has to be about producing good Merinos, it is not just micron or wool cut. A good sheep is a good sheep,” he said.

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