23 Wool Industry Facts: All About Wool Production Simplified

Many textiles such as cotton have cellulose in them, whereas wool is mainly made of proteins.

Lipids are also present in the wool in a small percentage. The leader in wool production is the Australian wool industry.

Some of the finest wool is produced in Australia. It is the softest wool in the whole world. Australia is one of the major exporters of wool. Countries like South Korea, China, Italy, and India consume about 90% of the wool exported. 1.5 to 2 billion bale of wool is produced every year in Australia. There are several types of wool derived from different animals. They are: Merino wool, Cashmere, Lambswool, Cashgora, and angora are a few of them.

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Wool: Industry Origin

Wool was first produced 10,000 years ago.

It started during the stone age. The Mesopotamian plain population was the first to use sheep for different purposes. They discovered it could be used for food, and hides could be used for shelter. As early as 50 AD, the first wool industry was established in England in Winchester. Even in the bronze age, wool was interwoven into clothes to protect from winters. Importing rare Spanish sheep, John and Elizabeth McArthur started the first wool plant in Australia. It was set up in the early 1800s.

There are many quality grades of wool. It depends on the fineness and diameter of wool fiber. Lower quality wool is used to make rugs, carpets, upholstery, and blankets. High-quality wool is used to produce clothes. Color, length, uniformity, strength, and contaminants also affect the quality of wool. In the united states, the wool produced is sold as raw fleece wool. As synthetic fibers came into demand, wool production has significantly decreased.

The Wool Industry Explained In Simple Terms

Wool is obtained by undergoing several processes.

Shearing, scouring, grading, dyeing, and drying are the steps that are to be followed in the same process.

Shearing is the process in which fleece is removed from an animal. In the spring and summer months, the sheep are shorn every year. Shearing is done like a haircut. It is done manually with clippers or razor blades. Scouring is done with machines where the shorn wool is cleaned from dirt, grease, and dust. In the grading process of wool, the wool is graded according to its texture, color, and length of the wool. The wool is then dyed from brown, white, and black colors into different colors. The drying of the wool involves putting boxes of wool through rollers. In this process, the water from the wool is squeezed out as much as possible. Then after squeezing out water, the wool is weighed and packed into bales. These bales are then sold to industries where they undergo another process of making fabric and other items.

There are seven types of wool present in the world; Lambswool, Shetland wool, Alpaca, mohair, merino wool, and cashmere. Merino wool is Australian wool that is extremely fine. Because the wool fibers are thin, the fabric made from the wool is much softer than its counterparts. It is very comfortable to wear and is popularly used in exercise and hiking clothes. There are many types of merino wool, but generally, the thicker the hair, the lower the quality of wool.

Derived from the lamb's first shearing comes lambswool. It is also a softer fabric whose popularity is second to merino wool. Bedding and blankets are made from lambswool. It helps regulate body temperature when used, just like merino wool. Shetland wool comes from Scotland's sheep. In the shetland island of Scotland, the shetland sheep are bred. It is usually used for sweaters. As the fabric is a bit on the rougher side, it cannot be used as a regular item of clothing.

Who is the largest producer of wool in the world?

Around 25% of greasy wool is produced in Australia.

The agriculture and water resources department in Australia reported that in the year 2015-2016, around 3 billion of wool was exported. The best quality of wool is merino wool. Wool is obtained from many animals, not just sheep. Any animal that has long hair can be used to produce wool.

Rabbits, camelids, sheep, muskoxen, and goats are some of the animals from which wool can be obtained. Victoria and New South Wales are the two states in Australia that produce the highest amount of wool. After Australia, China holds second place in being the largest producer of wool, followed by the USA, New Zealand, and Argentina. Wool products brought from Australia and New Zealand have the finest quality.

Global Wool Production

A shorn sheep produce 7.2 pounds of greasy wool on average.

The Australian wool industry produces 25% of the world's total wool for apparel, making them the biggest wool producers. China produces about 18%, coming closely third is the USA, which produces about 17% of the wool. New Zealand also produces about 11% of the total wool in the world. These are the top countries which produce wool after that only a negligible amount is produced in the rest of the countries.

The population of sheep shorn in the year 2016-17 was over 74.3 million sheep. Lambs are also shorn for their wool in Australia. Shearers, like big scissors, are used to shear sheep and lambs. Merino wool is primarily used in apparel. Wool has become a fashion clothing and gaining popularity in the world.

Many associations around the world feel that the sheep industry is being cruel to animals. They state that wool is a natural protection for animals from cold and heat, and wool export is termed unethical by animal welfare associations. Though this process has been done for over centuries, no known harm has been reported in terms of the declining number of sheep. This is a debatable topic among people, but it has not declined wool exports over the years.

Sheep Wool Export

Western Australia exports the most amount of wool.

The wool exports which go to China are about 83%. The following country is India, followed by the Czech Republic. The health of the sheep maintained by the sheep industry of Australia is of high standards. About 14.7% million sheep are presenting Western Australia, according to the 2017 census. The wool. The apparel and wool garments made by merino wool are also in high demand. Australian wool is the largest wool producer, and the country places high value on maintaining the quality of sheep. That makes it the leader in the sheep industry across the world. Meanwhile, the production in the United States is declining, and the greasy shorn wool was 25.7 million pounds which is 5% lower than previous years.

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