IT'S the end of the road for electronic bale tagging research.
AWEX manager of quality and training Dr Kerry Hansford confirmed this week trials for the development of electronic bale tagging had been abandoned.
Electronic bale tagging has been on the wool industry agenda for more than 30 years.
Major brokers such as Elders and Landmark saw electronic identification of bales - either by scanning or through a radio transponder - as a means to improving handling efficiency, particularly in reducing the incidence of misplaced or lost bales.
Exporters and overseas mills also saw electronic identification as way of reducing claims on mis-shipments.
More than a decade ago, the industry moved to bar-coded bale tags, and while some of brokers opted to use scanning technology, the incidence of damaged labels meant the system was not fool-proof.
In recent years, AWEX has been trialling the use of an electronic transponder embedded beneath the label.
These trials, from farm to mill, were progressing well but were likewise handicapped from a small incidence of damage to the transponder caused by forklift or during the transport of the wool bales.
The extra cost of about $1 to a wool pack was a negative. Finding funds for on-going research was also an issue for AWEX.
Growers will have noticed the latest generation of wool packs contain a very simple label, without a bar-code, repositioned on the bale flap horizontally.
Dr Hansford said the other significant feature of the new label was that it included a space for woolclassers to specify a code for a particular line of wool in addition to its designation as a AAAM or AAM.
He said the redesigned pack label arose from discussions with classers and brokers during the review of the code of practice for woolclassers.
