MOLIAGUL Merino farmers Dale and Ron McCoy are convinced of the benefits of biological wool harvesting using BioClip.
For several years they have been "bioclipping" rather than shearing their lambs.
"It's a bit like a crop of canola, the benefits were usually in the second year," says Dale.
The benefits he refers to include removal of any stress on the lambs from a normal shearing. He also believes the lambs remain in a much healthier condition as hoggets.
At an all-up cost of $6.50 per lamb for the BioClip injection of the epidermal growth factor hormone, the retaining net and a contractor's costs, the McCoys say you have to accept that wool returns might not always cover the costs.
Although that wasn't the case in Melbourne last week where the McCoys sold five bales of BioClip wool from 530 five-month-old superfine Merino wethers.
These lambs were injected early September and defleeced 28 days later.
Landmark district wool manager John Carmichael valued the main four bale 17.6-micron line with a yield of 63.5 per cent and a staple length of 40mm plus at 590c/kg greasy, but hoped to get 600c/kg. It sold much better at 660c/kg greasy.
With oddments included, the lambs had a gross fleece return of $9.60 per lamb.
Mr Carmichael, who pioneered the BioClip technology around the Bendigo district, said the biologiocally harvested lambs wool was often more keenly sought by knitwear manufacturers because of an evenness of staple length and an absence of second cuts.
