Processor penalty sparks skin quality conversation

Proponents of Soft Rolling Skins Merinos have said that the $3 disposal fee announced in a letter to producers and agents was an opportunity to highlight the wool, skin and carcase value of Merinos.

The fee is expected to mainly affect crossbred and shedding breed lamb skins, with skins up to two inches on lambs weighing less than 24kg currently having no value, according to Meat & Livestock Australia's August skins report.

The report shows Merino sheep skins values ranging from $1 to $19 depending on thickness and weight.

Commercial wool grower Jim Gordon, of Young, NSW, said an understanding of skin quality could give commercial wool growers an edge.

"Skins with heavy wrinkle are prone to tearing along the ribs or dermatones (nerve channels)," he said.

"Hard collagen wraps around these nerve channels creating cord like strips from the backbone to the belly on a sheep, and these tear when the hides are stretched during processing.

"We are looking for sheep with none of this hard collagen but a soft, supple skin ideal for the fellmonger."

SRS Genetics chairman Norm Smith said superior Merino hide quality was characterised by a loose supple skin without any sign of thickness and wrinkle.

"Merino skins have the added bonus of quality wool for the skin buyer," he said.

"Merino producers are renowned for their wool quality but there has been a positive shift over the last 10 years to produce a more dual-purpose animal by lifting early growth rates through Australian Sheep Breeding Values and selection for muscle and fat traits."

"The Merino as a maternal mother gives crossbred producers the option of a good wool income as well as growth and muscling in the terminal offspring."

With wool length and quality being major factors affecting skin value, Mr Smith said other ways of maximising skin value included using only a keyhole crutch, minimise shearing cuts, and avoiding the use of spray markers or raddles on sale lambs.

But WoolProducers Australia CEO Jo Hall said while Meat &Livestock Australia's national skins report demonstrates a clear advantage for Merino skins, it was unclear how many producers factored skins value into decision making.

"The attributes of the Merino demonstrates the duality of the breed, in recent years there has been quite a bit of research on the eating quality of Merinos conducted by MLA and NSW DPI utilising data from the Merino Lifetime Productivity project and MERINOSELECT, and the comparative price of Merino skins could be seen as a value-add," she said.

"However, I'm not sure that skins value alone would be a determining factor in enterprise selection".