Australian wool production is forecast to drop to its lowest level in 100 years.
The Australian Wool Production Forecasting Committee (AWPFC) has predicted a 12 per cent drop in production for the 2024–25 financial year to less than 280 million kilograms.
Production has not been that low since 1920–21.
The bleak forecast hasn’t dampened the spirits of 23-year-old Miranda McGufficke, a fifth-generation wool grower on the Monaro.
“Coming into the industry as a young person, it’s always hard to ignore the headlines,” Ms McGufficke said.
“But you just have to stay optimistic, costs are going up, but that’s the same for every industry … you can make a living out of this by making smart breeding and management decisions.”
Ms McGufficke, who grew up on her family’s stud Greendale Merinos near Cooma, said her childhood helped foster her passion for the fibre.
Ms McGufficke spent much of her childhood in woolsheds. (Supplied: Miranda McGufficke)
“I’ve always grown up around wool — we’ve always been in the shearing sheds and the yards, rustling around in the back of Dad’s old utes, fumbling around, playing in trees, playing in troughs, always a part of the industry,” she said.
“It’s been such a family-orientated operation and we’re so hands-on as a family.
“I’ve got a lot of fulfilment out of that.”
Ms McGufficke is a fifth-generation wool grower. (ABC News: Floss Adams)
Returning home to the farm after university, Ms McGufficke brought with her a passion for genomic testing, which allows farmers to compare sheep genetics across the country.
“There’s so much potential for this industry to get behind genomics more to make smarter breeding decisions, it’s just an untapped interest area,” she said.
“And I want younger people to be more interested and they are starting to be, which is wonderful.”
Ms McGufficke was selected as one of 10 future industry leaders to tour wool processing mills in China courtesy of the National Foundation for Australia–China Relations.
It opened her eyes to the scale of the processing sector where more than 85 per cent of Australian wool is bought and processed.
Ms McGufficke is bucking the current trend of people moving away from wool. (ABC News: Floss Adams)
“Seeing the Chinese attitude to Australian wool, seeing them have confidence in our industry and wanting us to get better is really fulfilling, to come back and think I am doing the right thing — I’m not wasting my time,” she said.
Passion in spades
Today many other farmers are getting out of wool to instead run cattle or plant crops due to the tough market.
But like Ms McGufficke, Angus Dawson is determined to buck that trend.
Angus Dawson is a sixth-generation wool grower. (ABC Rural: Lara Webster)
He is a 26-year-old, sixth-generation New England wool grower.
He was only 10 when he got his first ewes and a ram, and by 12 had his first mob of stud sheep.
Flash forward to 2025 and Mr Dawson is working on solutions to ensure his sustainability in a volatile market.
“Really in my lifetime I haven’t seen a good wool market compared to generations before me, so for me it’s pure passion and a little bit of hope,” Mr Dawson said.
“Australia rode on the sheep’s back and it basically built the country many years ago.
“It’s such a beautiful natural fibre that’s so versatile.”
Mr Dawson is constantly exploring new genetics to use in his sheep breeding. (ABC Rural: Lara Webster)
That passion and hope are why Mr Dawson is working to breed a dual-purpose animal to spread his risk across both wool and meat sheep markets.
To do that he is using merino and poll Dorset traits in his breeding program, as well as Charolais sheep, a breed from the same region of France where the cattle come from.
“I’m on my way to breeding a dual-purpose poll merino, so what that includes is good wool cuts and quality, and carcase and fertility traits, more lambs on the ground.
“That way I can spread my risk three ways across wool, lambs, and carcass.”
Mr Dawson is passionate about the wool industry, and sees a bright future ahead for himself. (ABC Rural: Lara Webster)
‘Here for the long-term’
Cudal farmer Floyd Legge operates a family-run farming operation in the NSW central west that focuses on wool, lambs, and sheep meat.
He too is upbeat about his future in wool.
Floyd Legge is upbeat about the wool industry’s future. (Supplied)
Mr Legge believes demand will return for the fibre and those that remain in a smaller industry will reap the benefits of higher prices.
“We’ve never thought about leaving the industry at all, we’re passionate about it, and we understand that things move in cycles,” he said.
“By having a diversity in our business that’s the way of handling ups and downs within a commodity to be able to do other things.
“We’re very positive and are here for the long term.”
Merino is a popular choice for jumpers and jackets. (ABC Rural: Laurissa Smith)
