Degates from the federation’s 24 provinces unanimously decided to change fibre to wool.
It’s a return to the name used more than two decades ago before wool was dropped in favour of fibre when mohair from Angora goats was on the rise.
But goat farmers now had their own section in Federated Farmers and everyone wanted to get back to using the name wool, Anderson said.
“With its internationally recognised connotations — super-warm, natural, sustainable, hypoallergenic, flame-retardant — it better identifies the actual product grown and marketed as wool.”
Federated Farmers wants to play a key role in ramped-up sector-wide collaboration on wool initiatives and that is reflected in the name change.
“If you say fibre to the younger generation these days they think you mean the fibre optics that speed up their internet connection.
“And fibre has unfortunate connotations with microfibres and the growing problem of long-lasting strands of synthetic fabrics that are ending up in our oceans and marine organisms.”
Prices for crossbred strong wool have halved since mid-2015 but farmers and downstream companies are fighting hard to find new and innovative products to soak up the warehoused clip and spark revenue.
The Meat and Wool Council gave the section’s executive the mandate to form a collaborative industry group to address crossbred wool issues.
“The aim is to work together to better tell the excellent story of strong wool’s qualities and potential to the wider community,” Anderson said.
“If your only source of information was mainstream media you’d be forgiven for thinking the only thing happening with New Zealand wool at the moment, with the exception of Merino, is that the bottom has dropped out of the market and all involved are sitting on their bums with fingers crossed the Chinese will start buying again in the volumes they were two years ago.”
The council discussed the option of farmers returning to paying a levy to co-ordinate crossbred wool marketing and research and the need for post farmgate players to match it.
“But that’s parked for now,” Anderson said.
“We want to concentrate on the new collaboration group and how far we can get by working together to better tell the excellent story of strong wool’s qualities and potential to the wider community.”
Meanwhile, more than a dozen indsutry leaders had put on displays at the recent Crossbred Wool Showcase hosted by Feds in Wellington.
Sponsored by NZ Wool Services International, PGG Wrightson and Cavalier Bremworth, it was but a sample of what’s going on in the industry, he said.
Among exhibitors were Inter-weave and Woolyarns, which produce high-end, quality fabrics for export and supply Air NZ with fabrics meeting the highest flame retardant criteria.
Another showcase exhibitor was Wright Wool that supplies 100% NZ wool to Paragon, based in Georgia, the heart of textile manufacturing in America.
Paragon has created a specialised knop used for home insulation and exports wool to Thailand and the Georgia-based Delos Company to create custom carpets and rugs.
Other exhibitors included Wayby Wools specialising in cot undelays and yoga mats and Stansborough, a supplier of wool garments used in movies such as the Lord of the Rings and high-end boutiques in London and New York.
Feds Ruapehu president Lyn Neeson, who co-owns specialist woollen blanket maker ShearWarmth, presented Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor with one of the blankets to pass on to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her baby.
Baby clothes from Wairarapa-based Merino Kids were also presented for Ardern.
