WHETHER you agree or disagree with the collective marketing of wool, Australian Wool Innovation, it seems, has at last settled on a smart marketing program.
That's an achievement in itself given that it has taken almost 18 months for the board to agree on a program and provide the limited funding.
Despite this, C&C hears AWI recorded a surplus of at least $10 million last financial year, due in part to marketing inaction.
After excluding overheads and administrative costs, AWI will spend about $33.4 million on marketing and research projects this year.
On-farm research and extension will account for $10 million, with $23.4 million for off-farm projects, mostly for marketing.
These marketing budgets are a mere pittance to the $200-$300 million spent during the late 1980s and early 1990s by the former International Wool Secretariat.
Dividing the marketing program into two - one for fibre and one for product promotion - appears to be a clever tactic for helping companies that are sensitive to the mulesing issue.
Essentially, the fibre promotion program is about promoting Merino wool, regardless of its country of origin.
That raises the notion of South American, South African and New Zealand wool getting a free ride.
The argument is that because Australia produces 80 per cent of the world's Merino wool, it's a small cost we may just have to carry.
Crossbred wool producers might also be peeved with the Merino wool focus.
However, with the big on-farm push to boost prime lamb production, C&C suspects that the crossbred or broad-wool producer might be getting a proportionately higher share of the on-farm research and extension dollar.
AWI chief executive Stuart McCullough said the success or otherwise of the marketing programs would be assessed by a range of methods, including sales data, consumer feedback and advertising response, including media hits.
Growers on the other hand, will be looking at the price of wool.
For many, this could be the last throw of the dice. It will be difficult to see growers voting in 2012 to continue with a 2 per cent levy if the Eastern Market Indicator doesn't rise well past 1000c/kg clean in the next two years.
