WHERE'S Lambassador Sam Kekovich when you need him?
Those PETA activists were up to their old tricks last week, using Australian Day to protest outside the Australian Embassy in Washington.
PETA vice-president Tracy Reiman asserted Australia could end mulesing in two years through an aggressive breeding program.
"The Australian Government's inaction makes it complicit in the suffering of every one of the millions of lambs who endure these mutilations every year," Ms Reiman.
C&C is often criticised for giving publicity to PETA by publishing their protests.
The other side to this argument is that producers should be aware of what the activists are saying about their product on the other side of the world.
Tea tree oil hope
Three weeks ago The Weekly Times published details of the latest findings by Rural Industry Research and Development Corporation - that tea tree oil could control sheep lice and ward off flies.
The findings, based on two years of laboratory and field testing, were welcomed by the Australian Tea Tree Industry Association.
Association development officer Tony Larkman said the industry had the capacity to double its output to meet any need in the sheep industry.
He said there were 80 growers in northern NSW producing 450 tonnes of oil, 90 per cent of it exported.
C&C understands that much of the RIRDC work followed findings from an integrated pest-control study developed by Australian Wool Innovation in 2003.
Cashmere correlation
INTERESTING note from Australian Wool Innovation that since 2002 there is a 86 per cent correlation between cashmere and the superfine 18.5-micron price, being on average 8.6 times higher than the wool price.
More importantly, for superfine producers looking for a light at the end of the gloomy tunnel is that cashmere prices are now beginning to rise.
China's cashmere output is purported to be 5500 tonnes from 11,500 tonnes and Mongolian production is now less than 3000 tonnes - much due to the increased slaughter of young goats as herders cash in on higher meat prices.
