Knitting together formula for sheep farmers' prosperity

Wool prices are the lowest since the early 1950s and farmers can be lucky to cover the cost of shearing - but AgResearch has a vision of a sustainable industry transformed from making low-value commodity wool to high-quality niche products.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry says the inflation-adjusted wool price is only 6.2 per cent of the peak of the Korean War wool boom.

AgResearch growth and development section manager Allan Pearson says one industry issue is the need to blend wool from different flocks and breeds to produce consistency in the volume manufacturers require.

The vision involves linking the production of specific types of wool more directly to end users, Pearson says.

"We've got to have new wool types and produce them in large enough quantities to interest or to persuade end users to pay significant premiums for them."

The Enhanced NZ Wool Quality Project started late last year with funding from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology to look at the genetic and protein differences in wool that relate to fibre properties.