THE wool industry can't afford to gamble with the mulesing issue, despite what the Australian Wool Innovation board members may have growers think.

Mulesing is not a minor issue.

On mulesing, growers are divided into three groups - those who have stopped mulesing, those planning or wanting to stop and those who will continue to mules.

The current AWI board is very much beholden to the pro-mulesing group or the anti-December 2010 deadline lobby.

AWI chairman Wal Merriman says those who buy unmulesed wool are quite free to do so.

And he suggests that if they want to boost the supply of unmulesed wool they should do so by sending the price signals.

That might be fine, but the supply of declared unmulesed wool is so low - currently under 5 per cent - that Australia runs the risk of a shortfall after the December 2010 "deadline".

A supply shortfall will leave major retailers with few options.

They could pay higher prices, although there is a limit to the premiums a manufacturer will pay.

Another option will be to buy unmulesed wool from South Africa and New Zealand. But even these countries have limited supplies.

The final option is to walk away from wool.

For most of the larger international retailers and brands, wool apparel is just a minor segment of their revenue.

And while Australian wool growers can proudly claim they produce the world's best fibre, the fact is that growers need the support of the big retailers more than the retailers need Australian wool.

It is all very well to claim that 50 per cent of the Australian wool processed in China is bought by Chinese consumers who wouldn't know what mulesing was or who PETA were.

But the stark reality is that for the Australian Merino to have any chance of rebuilding numbers there needs to a sharp lift in wool prices to a level which is sustainable and profitable.

To achieve that price lift, Australian Wool Innovation will require all the support it can muster from the high value end of the market.

No, mulesing is not a minor issue.