On-farm wool testing needs more than micron

摘要

The innovative technology to enable fleece testing to take place in the shearing shed or classing race is being hailed as greatly assisting in the marketing of wool and the breeding of sheep. The resultant machines are the OFDA 2000 (optical system)and the Laserscan (laser system). The areas of wool marketing and sheep breeding may appear to be different on the surface, but resolve into one, when it is considered that a finely directed breeding program should ensure lines of sheep with even linesof high value wool. For any age group of sheep tested, the numbers of animals falling into each fibre diameter (micron) category result in a typical bell-shaped distribution curve. The tightest curve with the least spread denotes the most highly bred even flocks, which nevertheless have a spread of 6-8 microns from finest to strongest. At the other extreme, a Victorian flock chosen for testing in the Objective Clip Preparation trials in the early 1970s had a range of fibre diameter from 18-40, a spreadof 22 microns. This clip comprised 35 lines and was bred from a strong Corriedale by fine Merino indiscriminate cross. A similar result Could be obtained from a Lincoln by fine Merino.