Top wool advocate bales out
The conversion of productive farmland into trees has pretty much annihilated the wool industry.
The limited offering of 4200 bales from the South Island on offer this week saw a 58% clearance and a generally firmer market, New Zealand Wool Services International Ltd's general manager, John Dawson reports.
The weighted indicator for the main trading currencies increased by 0.42%.
Dawson advises a small selection of Mid Micron wools followed other market trends and eased between 4 to 6%.
Fine crossbred fleece and shears were firm to sellers favour.
Coarse crossbred fleece were firm to 1.5% dearer. Coarse early shorn were firm with longer shears firm to 1.5% stronger and shorter shears firm to 3% dearer.
First lambs and long crossbred oddments remained firm with short oddments generally in buyers' favour.
There was limited activity with many growers reluctant to sell at current levels. Main competition came from China, India and Western Europe, supported by Middle East and Australasia.
The next sale on August 16 comprises about 7500 bales from the North Island and 6300 bales from the South Island.
Fears of a serious early drought in Hawke’s Bay have been allayed – for the moment at least.
There was much theatre in the Beehive before the Government's new Resource Management Act (RMA) reform bills were introduced into Parliament last week.
The government has unveiled yet another move which it claims will unlock the potential of the country’s cities and region.
The government is hailing the news that food and fibre exports are predicted to reach a record $62 billion in the next year.
The final Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction has delivered bad news for dairy farmers.
One person intimately involved in the new legislation to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) is the outgoing chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment, James Palmer, who's also worked in local government.

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