Agriculture
3 July, 2026
Clip packs a pleasing accolade
GREG and Cat Whinfield were stoked last week in Deniliquin when their 17.5 micron July-shorn fleece was named northern clip of the year.
GREG and Cat Whinfield were stoked last week in Deniliquin when their 17.5 micron July-shorn fleece was named northern clip of the year.
The Whinfields, who farm at Canary Island, took out the Elders award from other nominations over the past year.
““We aim to grow a nice bit of wool and this clip tested well,” Greg said.
“We sold it last August, a few weeks after shearing finished and just as prices started to improve.
“We had a really good team of shearers in the shed where we did 1400 sheep in July last year and another 600 lambs in October.”
Greg said the July shearing included some young sheep and he was pleased with the clip’s 17.5 micron. “We normally aim for around 18.5 micron.”
The Australian wool market has gained up to 60 per cent since last June with the benchmark Eastern Market Indicator up 61 per cent to close at 1943c/kg clean, despite losing 46c/kg after the final season sales last week.
For the season there had been a total of 1,512,940 bales offered through the auction system, according to Elders, 52,869 bales lower than the previous season, a reduction of just 3.4per cent.
There had been a total of $2,614,000 worth of wool sold at auction for the 12 months, $675 million more than in the previous season.
Greg Winfield has been farming for 27 years and is buoyed by the higher demand for wool.
“It’s a good time to be in sheep,” he said.
“Things are looking positive for sheep and fleeces. We’re dual purpose because that’s what a modern sheep farmer needs to produce.”
His self-replacing Merino flock is based on the genetic bloodlines from the Beverly Merino Stud at Redesdale.
And recent rains have Greg positive for the season ahead.
“We have feed and the crops are progressing well. If there’s a bit more rain in the next week, I will be pretty pleased,” he said.
But Greg said there were still challenges for primary producers.
“Urea and some of the other costs at the moment are pretty scary,” he said.
“Irrigation is a worry too. We rely on irrigation to push spring production.
“If you have a small temporary (water) allocation with prices higher it can become unfathomable and we will need a kind spring.”
Greg said the water pool was shrinking with water buybacks by the Federal Government.
“That’s no good for our district,” he said.
The Government says buybacks are to recover water to meet Murray Darling Basin Plan targets and realise First Nations People’s aspirations for water ownership in the Basin through the Aboriginal Water Entitlements Program. The voluntary buybacks have seen 300GL snapped up by the government, 137.1GL from Victoria.
Despite the challenges, Greg said he was over the moon with the wool clip of the year award.
“We’re a good family set up with buyers who like our clips,” he said.
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