AWI working for woolgrowers

Woolgrowers voted for a 1.5% levy at WoolPoll

At the 2024 AWI Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 15 November, it was announced that Australian woolgrowers voted at WoolPoll to maintain a levy of 1.5% on their wool sales to fund R&D and marketing of Australian wool.

Woolgrowers had been given four options to choose from: 0%, 1%, 1.5% and 2%. Before preferences were allocated, 37.85% of votes favoured a rate of 2.0%. The next highest option was a 1.5% rate, with 37.35% support. After preferences were distributed, 56% of votes favoured the 1.5% levy rate.

Importantly, the WoolPoll result shows that woolgrowers clearly want to maintain a levy and for AWI to continue to work hard on their behalf to provide valuable and cost-effective R&D and marketing programs.

However, as foreshadowed in the WoolPoll Voter Information Memorandum, the vote for a 1.5% levy means that AWI will have to cease investment in several projects and reduce investment in many others.

It is important to acknowledge and thank the WoolPoll Panel, in particular its Chairman Rich Keniry, for their efforts to promote the vote and get so many woolgrowers to have their say.

At the AWI AGM, I gave a presentation of the activities of the company during 2023/24. AWI fully achieved 75% of its annual targets with a further 20% of the year’s targets partially achieved. These results were accomplished despite dwindling reserves and falling revenue that constrained the company to reduce its expenditure by 20% compared to the previous year.

AWI is now developing its Strategic Plan for the three-year period starting next financial year, building on the R&D and marketing results we have already achieved. This new plan will be produced with extensive consultation with woolgrowers and will be shaped by the result of WoolPoll.

You can view a recording of the 2024 AGM and access our 2023/24 Annual Report on the AWI website at www.wool.com/agm.

Sustainability initiatives build value for woolgrowers

In September, Woolmark launched a powerful second chapter of its successful eco-marketing campaign. Building on the momentum of ‘Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel’, which raised awareness of fossil fuel as the source of synthetic fibres, ‘Wear Wool, Not Waste’ highlights that synthetic apparel does not readily decompose and remains polluting the environment for centuries – see pages woolmark.com/wear-wool.

Importantly, the campaign urges consumers to consider the fibre composition of a clothing product – and choose wool – when they are thinking of making a purchase.

The eco-marketing campaign aligns with AWI’s broader mission to position wool as a key solution to the fashion industry’s sustainability challenges. This vision is encapsulated in the Woolmark+ Roadmap, the program designed to help woolgrowers and supply chain partners accelerate the wool industry’s transition towards a ‘nature positive’ future. Engaging in the Woolmark+ programs will help woolgrowers to increase their access to market opportunities, enhance agricultural productivity and provide new income streams – thereby safeguarding wool-growing now and into the future. See wool.com/sustainability.

It’s also critical that AWI and its natural fibre partners continue to advocate European Union (EU) policymakers to amend its Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) proposals before they become law. PEF will not only affect the environmental claims that brands and retailers put on their apparel products, potentially leading to a negative score for wool products based on a flawed methodology, but it may also influence brands' fibre procurement decisions if it's embedded in 'ecodesign' requirements being developed for all products.

Looking to the future with wool

It’s important for woolgrowers to keep in mind the two key messages from Agrista’s recent analysis of livestock enterprise profitability. Firstly, specialist wool enterprises delivered similar or superior profits compared to other livestock enterprise types over the recent five-years 2018-19 to 2022-23. Secondly, changing to a different enterprise is unlikely to deliver higher profitability for producers. Rather, improving performance within an existing enterprise is more likely to increase profits than moving between enterprises.

Although it is a challenging time for Australian woolgrowers at the moment, there are opportunities to increase productivity and profit at the farm level. For example, this edition of Beyond the Bale looks at several AWI R&D and extension projects to help woolgrowers optimise their flock’s reproductive performance.

In the off-farm area, it’s clear that global economic conditions are not delivering the wool prices right now that woolgrowers deserve for their hard work. However, I believe that the fundamental benefits of wool and long-term consumer trends play in wool’s favour, and woolgrowers will reap the rewards when global consumers start spending money again.

Rest assured that AWI, your R&D and marketing company, will continue to work relentlessly for you to ensure the sustainability of our industry and profitability for your enterprises.

I wish you a happy Christmas and New Year and a safe and prosperous 2025.

This article appeared in the December 2024 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.