The Yarn

The latest AWI funded Nuffield scholar is Monaro Merino producer Andrew Rolfe. After the last drought showed what was possible through containment, can this be the economically-efficient and environmentally-responsible way to seriously boost production?

We celebrate our 150th episode of The Yarn by exploring how the industry is educating the next generation on the impact of differing environments on sheep genetics. Recently in Western Australia, 8 teams, 7 schools, 7 different environments and 1 sheep bloodline took part in the AWI Young Breeders Challenge. We introduce the event organiser Grantly Mullan from Eastville Park stud, and four keen students from the WA College of Agriculture – Narrogin, who took part in the challenge and are excited for their futures in Australian agriculture.

Michael Caton, one of Australia’s best loved actors, joins The Yarn podcast to discuss his latest film RAMS which explores the very real issue of an exotic disease outbreak in a sheep community. Listen and see Michael as he joins host Marius Cuming to talk about his experience in the wool and farming industries and how accurate the film is in depicting how much sheep mean to the people who work with them, care for them and are defined by them.

The ground breaking Change Makers series of short, sharp videos is cutting through to woolgrowers, highlighting on farm changes that make a big difference to sheep producers. Hear from sheep consultant Nathan Scott about it. Also the AWI AGM is entirely online in 2020: find out how will it all work and how you can participate.

Sheep reproductive technologies are Dr Michylla Seal’s bread and butter, and her work extends far beyond Australia’s communities and borders. Hear how Dr Seal is breeding Australian Merino genetics into the Falkland Islands, and get her do’s and don’ts on managing your rams prior to joining.

In western Queensland young shearers take up the craft and we hear from Jeff Ma, Country Manager for China about how our biggest market is rebounding.

The world’s largest economy, on paper: should buy more wool. Why are wool’s fortunes in the US slowly changing?

Darren Spencer, a shearing contractor in WA’s Lake Grace, is currently down half a workforce as coronavirus keeps vital shearing staff back in New Zealand. But the show must go on. Hear from Darren how shearing teams are coping and how the industry is focused on supporting and upskilling the next generation of shearers to meet the challenge.

A decade of lambing many hundreds of twin-bearing Merino ewes had delivered enormous benefits for Victorian woolgrower Tony Butler, but its labour intensive and surely can be made easier. Tony also talks of his enthusiasm for wool having been on a wool tour of China and explains the amazing story of how his family came to farm at Newstead in the goldfields of Victoria.

A very famous name in Australian agriculture. This young innovator has created the prototype that may make the backbreaking work of fencing much easier