CARNGHAM Merino breeder Sandy Jelbart was grinning this week after obtaining one of the best wool cheques in the past few years.
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A fortnight ago Mr Jelbart, who runs the Strathcona Merino Stud near Ballarat, Victoria, sold 81 bales of fine-medium 19 micron wool to a top of 985 cents a kilogram greasy, or an average of 886c/kg.
While the woolgrower missed out on the biggest spike in the market last week, he was still able to reap the rewards of recently improved prices.
“You can’t chase the market, however, the good thing was that prices had been steadily climbing for a few weeks,” he said.
“I certainly got some benefit from that, but the biggest profit driver for me was increased fleece weight.”
This season, Strathcona’s grown sheep averaged 7.5kg, thanks to a favourable autumn and mild winter last year.
Wool prices have surged over the past few weeks, but Mr Jelbart was cautious about commenting on how long the market would remain buoyant.
“It’s driven by supply and demand at the minute…the pipeline is empty,” he said.
“But this is really where prices need to be at to sustain wool production in Australia.”
