The Importance Of Sustainable Biosecurity And Shearing Practices

Consumers around the globe are placing greater value on products that meet certain requirements, with emphasis on aspects such as traceability as an effective identification system, as well as ecological and economic sustainability.

- Carin Venter

The wool and mohair market has also been under the microscope and is now considered a specialty or niche market, rather than a commodity market as it was known until some ten years ago.

Ethical wool production

Jan Louis Venter, an advisor at the National Wool Growers’ Association (NWGA) in the Free State, says that consumers who prefer wool clothing have very specific requirements. According to him, they seek good quality products that have been produced in an ethical way, accompanied by evidence that all production processesn are acceptable and sustainable for the future.

“The concept is not new,” he says. “A good example is the fruit industry, where no products may be exported until the required audited standards have been met.”

Heinrich Victor, marketing manager of fibre at the OVK, notes that fruit producers must be at least GLOBALG.A.P. certified before products can be exported.

He also believes that fibre certification will play an even greater role in future. “It is imperative for South Africa to follow the regulations, as the bulk of the country’s fibre is traded on an international platform, with only a very small percentage processed locally – mohair to a greater extent than wool.”

A changing market

Jan Louis emphasises that it is imperative to apply biosecurity measures to ensure that animals remain disease free and to keep unwanted diseases from entering herds and spreading further.