Woolwise News Edition 5
23 April, 2001

Virulent footrot is a highly infectious bacterial disease which causes lameness, loss of condition, and can display symptoms ranging from redness and moisture between the claws of the hoof, to destruction of the hoof.

The Western Australian approach to this disease has been to allow farmers two attempts at summer eradication of footrot, with repeated inspections of all feet, and culling of diseased animals. If this was not successful, then destock the infected properties was required, but the eradication process allowed farmers to appeal against compulsory destocking orders and maintain their breeding stock. Most farmers achieved eradication within two years, according the Agriculture Western Australia's Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr John Edwards.

Contacts: Dr John Edwards Chief Veterinary Officer
Bob Mitchell, State Footrot Coordinator
Phone: 08 9368 3342.

FINE FUTURE FOR TASMANIA
Demonstrating technology adoption is the key to a new project being run at Cressy Research Station by the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment.

Available technologies will be applied in a fine wool flock development project to show outcomes to wool producers. The Cressy flock is currently 23 microns, but with use of various technologies including in-shed fleece testing, animal selection strategies, electronic identification, breeding resistance to internal parasites, and grazing management strategies, the project team hope to drop the average micron to 18.

The Minister, David Llewellyn, acknowledged the role of the Wool CRC in generating some of the information that would be highlighted during the project. The Cressy project represents a long term commitment to wool research in Tasmania, to allow growers to observe, discuss and to gain control over productivity and profitability in their industry.

Contact: Andrew Bailey, Project Manager
DPIWE, Prospect Offices
Phone 03 6336 5385
Email andrew.bailey@dpiwe.tas.gov.au

WHAT'S THE POTENTIAL FOR CLOTHING SALES WITH E-COMMERCE?
A couple of reports have surfaced recently on textile news sites on the internet. Research into electronic shopping indicates that while the value of e-commerce sales generally are growing at a very healthy rate of about 130 percent, growth of online clothing and footwear sales has been phenomenal in the U. K. with growth of over 1000 percent in just one year. This has been due to the availability of more products, giving consumers greater choice.

Several interesting findings reported include that the internet is not a cheap means of entering the clothing market. The successful players in e-commerce apparel marketing are the "physical" retailers, those already-established large clothing retailers such as Marks and Spencer, who have the capital to go on-line. Because they have well-known brand names, they can focus their advertising on pushing shopping at their sites, rather than building brand recognition. Some consumers also regard the larger physical traders as being more secure. In the future, however, it is expected that the "virtual" retailers will become more profitable, by being better able to meet their customers needs through more than one channel.

One of the major hurdles to successful internet trading is backing it up with easy to use website with good quality images, and timely deliveries and service. Some of the big U. K. e-commerce players show stock availability on their websites so consumers avoid disappointment, and can then select another product that is in stock.

Consumers of clothing often need the tangible experiences of touch and feel to influence their purchase. This may be possible with a combination of internet, interactive television, and mail order. Internet purchases for footwear and clothing are mainly made by females in the 25 -34 year old age bracket, although internet usage has traditionally been thought of as a male domain. This may mean there is untapped potential for sales to men, or alternatively that female usage of the internet is growing.

Source: http://www.just-style.com

BOOST FOR TCF INDUSTRY WITH NEW CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE AT CSIRO
The Commonwealth and Victorian Governments and the CSIRO have agreed to establish two new centres of excellence- in Technical Textiles and Advanced Wool Products in Geelong, Victoria, aimed at stimulating advanced training, education, research and product development in TCF industries.

The announcement was made jointly by the Minister for Industry Science and Resources, Senator Nick Minchin and the Victorian State Minister for Post Compulsory Education, Training and Employment, Lynne Kosky. It provides a new phase for developing the International Fibre Centre into truly national centres of excellence.

The centres will provide advanced level research and training activities and will work closely with neighbouring Deakin University to establish post-graduate and post-doctoral research programs focusing on the future needs of the industry.

These two new centres will strengthen regional and national competencies in the development and use of advanced textiles including both natural and synthetic fibres, Senator Minchin said.

Lynne Kosky said The centres will strengthen the employment potential of Victorian TCF industries and underpin regional development. They will complement the International Fibre Centre TAFE level teaching at Brunswick by providing training in the advanced technologies required to underpin the industrys future.

The Commonwealth and State Governments will work with industry stakeholders to identify how to further address training needs in this strategically important industry.

The centres exemplify the type of high value-adding activity the Commonwealth is encouraging through the TCF Post 2000 Assistance Package, Senator Minchin said. The package assists the TCF industry to increase its competitive strengths and restructure its operations.

These two centres build on CSIROs strong national links with industry. They will jointly develop and transfer the knowledge and skills required for tomorrows textile and fibre technologies. The multifibre capability, in particular, will benefit Australian wool and cotton industries by identifying opportunities for the use of wool and cotton in new high value-added products.

The two centres of excellence will be supported by a $2.1million cash outlay and ongoing funding by CSIRO. The Victorian Government will commit a further $1 million and a substantial amount of the equipment currently used by the International Fibre Centre. The Commonwealth Government will contribute $1.6 million to facilitate the establishment of the two centres.

Dr Brett Bateup, CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology, described the new Centres of Excellence as targeting those areas of infrastructure and innovation critical to the future needs of TCF industries. The Centres will encourage investment in innovation and technology diffusion promoting industry competitiveness and long-term sustainability.

Added benefits of these Centres of Excellence include stimulating innovation and the uptake and use of leading edge technologies and developing a coordinated national infrastructure for TCF research and development, Dr Bateup said.

Industry support for the initiative was echoed by Andrew Spira of Geelong Wool Combing Ltd.

"I am fully supportive of this initiative," Mr Spira said. "The multifibre capability of the centres promises to be an asset. The commitment by both State and Federal governments to ensure the industry's training needs are met is extremely positive and the key to the success of this initiative."

Both governments believe the future of the industry depends on moving from commodity products to innovative value-added products and having the appropriate training and research infrastructure in place.

Contact: Dr Brett Bateup, CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology.
Phone: 03 5246 4000
Mr Greg Hardiman, CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology.
Phone:  03 5246 4000
Mobile: 0408 228 291

And finally for this edition, an interesting comment from AWTA on that topical matter of in-shed testing. View the article with its explanatory graphics at http://www.awta.com.au/Publications/Newsletter/
2001_January/Newsletter_Main.htm 
and have a look at the other new articles while you are there.

CLASSING USING IN-SHED TESTING - WHY DO FINE LINES MEASURE COARSER THAN PREDICTED?
The increasing use of new technology, to measure the fibre diameter of individual fleeces during shearing has created an expectation among wool growers that classing their clip on these results will give the same answer as the coretest certificate provided by AWTA Ltd. Growers are becoming more aware that this is not the case. It is important that they understand the reasons why this is so.

The fact that differences occur is predictable for a number of reasons, including:

• 7 biases in sampling individual fleeces;
• 7 biases in selecting fleeces for class lines;
• 7 biases arising from calculation procedures; and
• 7 biases arising from sample preparation.

Every measurement has an in-built error arising from a number of factors including sampling, sample preparation, instrument calibration and measurement. These errors cause variation between measurements so that repeated measurements of samples drawn from the same wool will vary. In well-controlled measurement systems such errors are random, and the range of probable variation can be predicted.

In the case of Mean Fibre Diameter one of the largest contributors to this variation is sampling.

Biases in Sampling from Single Fleeces
Most of the variation in the diameter of wool fibres is within single staples. There is also variation between staples from the same fleece and between fleeces from the same mob.

The method of sampling from a fleece has a big impact on how the test result relates to the true Mean Fibre Diameter (MFD) of the fleece. The more representative the sample is of the whole fleece the better the estimate of MFD.

A measurement of a single staple, or a sample taken from a single staple, will therefore be a relatively poor estimate of the whole fleece, and a relatively poor estimate of the ranking of individual fleeces.

A mid-side sample is made up of 40-60 staples and provides a reasonable, though not the best, representation of the whole fleece. For example, the mid-side Mean Fibre Diameter is 17.1 microns while the mean of the whole fleece is 17.2 microns. Mid-side samples are suitable for ranking fleeces, and also for classing fleeces, but in the latter instance the average of the fleece microns will probably be biased relative to the coretest result of the classed line.

Minicoring the whole fleece at random is one way of obtaining a representative sample of the whole fleece. Measurements based on minicore samples will provide the most accurate ranking of fleeces, and also the most accurate prediction of the core test result for classed lines, provided the measurement instrument is sufficiently accurate, and sample preparation well controlled.

Biases in Selecting Fleeces for Classing Lines
When a grower sets a micron limit, for example 'under 18 microns', and selects fleeces based on in-shed (or mid-side) test results, some of the individual fleeces that measure below 18 microns are actually coarser than 18 microns, and some that measure coarser are actually finer than 18 microns.

If this variation, arising from both sampling and measurement, is random it will have no impact on the relationship between the average of the fleeces and the core test result for the classed line. But it is not random.

In every mob of sheep there is a distribution in MFD between the animals. Typically, the range in MFD across a mob will be around 8 microns, i.e. the finest animal will be about 8 microns finer than the coarsest animal. This variation is illustrated (on the AWTA website) in the above diagram, which shows the number of sheep (as a percentage) versus their MFD, for a mob averaging 20 microns.

The illustration also indicates the measurement variation at 18 microns (this is illustrative only - the actual variation will depend on the measurement technology employed).

For this hypothetical mob of sheep, assuming it totals 1000 animals, approximately 70 will be within the upper limit (orange area) while 40 will be in the lower limit (yellow area). So there is a greater chance that more fleeces that are measured as 18 microns will actually be coarser rather than finer than 18 microns. This will apply to all bin limits less than the mob Mean Fibre Diameter, while the converse will apply to all bin limits coarser than 18 microns.

As a consequence, the in-shed result for the fine lines will tend to be finer than the AWTA Ltd coretest, and for the coarse lines it will tend to be coarser. However, the more accurate the measurement system (including sampling, sample preparation, and measurement) the smaller these differences will be.

Biases arising from Calculations
The MFD of all the fleeces in a bale is not simply the arithmetic average of the MFD of each of the individual fleeces. The relative weights of each fleece must be taken into account. Furthermore, fine fleeces contribute more to the overall mean than coarser fleeces of the same weight, simply because they contain more fibres.

The simplest way to minimise any calculation bias in estimating the MFD of a classed line is to:

• 7 multiply the fleece weights by the fibre diameter for individual fleeces;
• 7 sum these results; and then
• 7 divide this total by the sum of the fleece weights.

Biases arising from Sample Preparation
Wool fibres swell/shrink as they absorb/desorb moisture so the Temperature and Humidity at the time of measurement can result in a finer or coarser result. The AWTA Ltd laboratories undertake all fibre diameter measurements at standard conditions of 200C 1 10C and 65% RH 1 3% RH (relative humidity), after allowing the wool samples to equilibrate with this environment. For highly precise measurements this is essential, but, with some technologies, it is not possible to readily meet this requirement in the shearing shed.

Accurate measurement also requires the sample to be free of all contamination such as grease, wax and suint. This can only be achieved by cleaning the samples prior to measurement, and again, in the shearing shed, some technologies cannot readily do this.

It is possible to reduce these biases by adopting a suitable calibration system, but this approach will not eliminate them.

Source: Australian Wool Testing Authority website www.awta.com.au

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