The vote by wool producers to reduce the levy they pay to Australian Wool International (AWI) from two per cent to 1.5 per cent has drawn a range of opinions from Western District wool growers.
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Penshurst merino super fine wool producer Colin Agar said the WoolPoll vote by producers was “a vote of no confidence” in the AWI because wool producers had not got a good return on the levy.
Mr Agar said producers wanted the AWI to deliver more advances that would improve farm productivity.
He said the vote outcome might have indicated to former AWI chairman Wal Merriman “it was time to go.”
Shortly before the vote outcome was announced, Mr Merriman stepped down as chairman earlier this month to continue as an AWI board member.
Dunkeld merino wool producer Matthew Crawford said the AWI had struggled to deal with the two biggest issues facing the wool industry.
They were to make shearing and wool harvesting easier and to deliver a “commercial answer to mulesing.”
Mr Crawford said he hoped wool producers would use the extra half a per cent of the wool levy that had previously gone to the AWI to themselves invest in technological advancements that would create on-farm efficiencies.
Cavendish merino fine wool producer Rob Lawrance said he was not happy that producers had voted to reduce the levy.
He said reducing the amount of money the AWI had to spend on wool marketing and research and development was “not the way to go.”
Reducing the levy was “an indictment on the broader wool industry,” he said.
“Cost saving is not appropriate at this juncture of the wool market,” Mr Lawrance said.
The wool industry needed to be proactive and aggressive in its approach to the market because “wool is not an essential commodity,” he said.
It was not wise to cut back on marketing for what was an “exclusive” product, Mr Lawrance said.
He said the wool industry was in a healthy position because of the AWI’s work.
“I voted for two per cent which the AWI suggested,” Mr Lawrance said.
The vote to reduce the levy was determined by preferences, which after three rounds of counting determined that 52.82 per cent of the 13,506 votes were in favour of a 1.5 per cent wool levy.
AWI chief executive Stuart McCullough it had “listened to woolgrowers and we have heard their message.” He said the AWI would try to ensure there was no loss of momentum in the marketing of wool and continued investment in other industry issues.
