ASKING farmers how they’re faring in recent times, “magnificently” has not been a response too often heard.
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On Tuesday, sheep farmer of 50 years, Errol ‘Badger’ Babbage answered using just that word, and with good reason.
For the last four months wool has been selling at record levels, and on Friday it breached the $20 per kilogram-mark before closing for the day at $19.81.
That represented a 31 per cent on last year's July price of $15.07, according to the Australian Wool Innovation weekly price report.
A drop in supply created through difficult conditions exacerbated by drought has seen the price paid for sheep products skyrocket, giving farmers, including Mr Babbage, a much deserved reason to smile.
“Sheep and wool are selling magnificently,” he said from his Icely Road property, which is home to 3000 head of sheep.
“Lambs have never been this dear, sheep have never been this dear and wool is doing terrific.
“It’s terrific at the minute, it’s never been as good. The only problem now is the weather.”
Mr Babbage said while the price surge is cause for celebration, his property is due for some repairs and upgrades which will “pretty well gobble up” the profits coming from wool’s surging price.
He said the majority of any leftover income will go into feed for livestock, as the cost of purchasing a tonne of oats or hay has quadrupled in just a few years.
“Others will be spending on fencing and replacing the pastures which dwindled away with the drought,” Mr Babbage said.
He said the drought had hit many in the region hard.
“I’ve been in Orange for 25 years, 44 years in Mudgee before that, and I’ve never seen it this dry,” he said.
Australia's chief commodities forecaster, The Australian Bureau of Agriculture, Resource Economics and Rural Sciences (ABARES), expects strong demand for superfine wool and slow supply growth to continue.
Australia is expected to produce 343,000 tonnes of shorn wool (greasy) in 2017-18, increasing two per cent to 350,000 tonnes in 2018-19, ABARES forecast.
China, the world's largest producer and exporter of woollen textiles and clothing, is the largest importer of Australian wool. In the five years to 2016-17, China accounted for 77 per cent of Australian wool exports, the report said.