A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE ADHERENCE OF SHED CLASSERS TO THE ESTABLISHED CLIP PREPARATION STANDARDS.

Occasional Paper No. 29

[I~:)o] BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, CANBERRA

A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE ADHERENCE OF SHED CLASSERS TO THE ESTABLISHED CLIP PREPARATION STANDARDS.

Occasional Paper No. 29

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING SERVICE CANBERRA 1975

(iii)

CONTENTS

Page

In t roduct ion

Method

(a) SmaZZ Lot Tr ia l (bl Large Lot %iaZ

Results

(a) SmaZZ Lots

(i) A s s e s s m e n t o f C l a s s i n g (ii) A s s e s s m e n t of C l a s s e r s

(iii) C l i p S i z e ( iv) G r a b S a m p l e and B a l e A p p r a i s a l

I ( b ) W g e ~ o t s

(i) A s s e s s m e n t o f C l a s s i n g (ii) A s s e s s m e n t of C l a s s e r s

(iii) L o t S i z e ( iv) S i z e of C l i p s (v) G r a b S a m p l e and B a l e A p p r a i s a l

Discussion

I Summary and Conclusion

ANALYSIS OF SMALL LOT CLASSING

RANGE OF OWSORTS DETECTED WITHIN MIXED SMALL LOTS

BALES I N SMALL LOTS GROUPED BY TYPE OF CL4SSER

MIXED BALES FROM SMALL LOTS GROUPED BY TYPE OF CLASSER

MIXED SMALL LOTS C L A S S I F I E D ACCORDING TO C L I P S I Z E

ACCURACY O F GRAB AND BALE APPRAISAL FOR SMALL LOTS

ANALYSIS OF LARGE LOT CLASSING

RANGE OF OUTSORTS DETECTED WITHIN MIXED LARGE LOTS

LARGE LOTS GROUPED BY TYPE OF CLASSER

Page

TdoZe No.

1 0 MIXED LARGE LOTS GROUPED BY TYPE OF CLASSER

11 MIXED LARGE LOTS GROUPED BY LOT S I Z E

1 2 MIXED LARGE LOTS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO C L I P S I Z E

13 ACCURACY OF GRAB AND BALE APPRAISAL FOR LARGE LOTS

1 4 ACCURACY OF CLASSED GRAB SAMPLE

WOOL CLASSINGSTANDARDS : A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE ADHERENCE OF SHED CLASSERS TO THE ESTABLISHED C L I P PREPARATION STANDARDS

P.R, Kidman and G . J . Cook*

Introduction

There has been considerable controversy among and between various sec tors of the wool t rade a s t o what i s t h e most e f f i c i e n t form of wool c lass ing t o achieve the grea tes t n e t re turn f o r the grower, maintain competition from buyers and maximise the m i l l use of the Australian c l ip . Furthermore, it is d i f f i c u l t t o e s t ab l i sh from the economic viewpoint the necessi ty f o r maintaining any pa r t i cu l a r s tandard, as a BAE study has indicated t h a t on average, growers do not receive a pr ice premium f o r well prepared l o t s i n comparison t o mixed l i n e s . ( l ) Despite t h i s , the wool t rade i s generally agreed tha t current wool c lass ing standards must be maintained and preferably improved. (2)

In an endeavour t o obtain a consistent and su i tab le standard of wool classing the Australian Wool Corporation (AWC), a f t e r consultation with the wool industry, has spec i f ied ce r t a in minimum standards f o r c l i p preparation on the assumption tha t they r e f l e c t t h e important processing considerations. In addition, during 1963 t h e then Australian Wool Bureau i n i t i a t e d a voluntary r eg i s t r a t i on scheme f o r wool c lassers i n an attempt t o r a i s e t h e i r professional s t a t u s and the qua l i ty of t he work they were doing. I t was a lso hoped t h a t t h i s program would increase the t rade ' s confidence i n the c lass ing of t he Australian c l i p and enable c lassers t o receive some feedback on t h e i r c lass ing performance from buyers and appraisers.

Given tha t the AWC c l i p preparation standards do r e f l e c t processors' requirements and the existence of t he c lasser r eg i s t r a t i on scheme, it i s relevant t o determine how well wool i s being prepared i n r e l a t i on t o t he specif icat ions and t o examine the standard of preparation maintained by regis tered classers i n comparison with t h e i r non-registered counterparts. The success of the reg is te red c lasser program and '.i:e attempts t o lay down class ing standards for the industry depend upon t h e specif icat ions being meaningful, unambiguous and capable of consis tent application. Equally importantly they should be capable of being inspected and enforced.

Although considerable c r i t i c i sm has been d i rec ted a t the standard of preparation of the Australian c l i p over recent years, it i s not the purpose of t h i s paper t o discuss whether c lass ing standards have been deter iorat ing. The paper repor t s a s e r i e s of t r i a l s designed t o determine how well wool was being classed during 1973-74 by both - - -- * The authcrs wish t o acknowledge t h e ass is tance given by the

Australian Wool Corporation, Grazcos Co-op Ltd, Yennora Partnership, Elder Smith Goldsbrough Mort Ltd, Southern Farmers Co-op Ltd and Westralian Farmers Co-op Ltd i n conducting t h e c lass ing t r i a l s .

(1) BAE, fie Economics of WooZ Chssing, IVool Economic Research Report No. 2 1 , December 1970.

(2) M.L. Vawser, AWC, closing Address t o the Objective Measurement Symposium - Austral ia , Melbourne, March, 1974.

reg is te red and non-registered c l a s se r s i n terms of both the t r ad i t i ona l and object ive c l i p preparation(3) standards issued by the AWC f o r tha t season. (4)

Some reservat ions have been expressed regarding the standard of preparation of c l i p s classed by object ive c l i p preparation (OCP) methods. (5) This has ar isen because buyers have found small pieces of ou tsor t s within t he grab samples i n t h e display boxes. Owing t o t h e small quant i ty of wool displayed the buyers have had d i f f i c u l t y estimating the ac tua l proportion of outsor ts i n t h e l o t . This i s a pa r t i cu l a r problem with off-type ou tsor t s such as clwnpy bu r r , sk in pieces , sk i r t ings and s ta ins .

In order t o inves t iga te how well wool was being prepared i n r e l a t i on t o the AWC spec i f ica t ions , a random sample of 350 bales comprising 224 1, 2 and 3 ba le l o t s from 98 individual c l i p s was obtained between August 1973 and April 1974, from brokers operating a t the Sydney, Adelaide and Fremantle wool s e l l i n g centres . I n addi t ion 922 bales representing 111 b i g l o t s of 4 ba les o r more from 99 c l ip s were selected from wools purchased a t auction by t h e AWC a t these centres during the same period. Forty-four of t h e b ig l o t s had been prepared by OCP methods while t he remaining l o t s had been classed according t o t r ad i t i ona l standards. Deta i l s of t he s i z e of each c l i p and the qua l i f ica t ions of t he c l a s s e r were obtained from t h e c l a s se r ' s report , where avai lable , and from information supplied by the respective brokers.

The se lec t ion of t he sample was constrained by the need t o ac tua l ly r e c l a s s the wools examined t o accurately determine t h e composition of the l o t s and by the shor t time span between sa les . Consequently wools directed t o the brokers f o r i n t e r l o t t i n g were chosen together with wools previously purchased by the AWC during the 1973-74 wool s e l l i n g season. As the sample se lec ted was not representat ive of t h e Australian c l i p a s a whole, t he conclusions drawn from t h i s study must be qua l i f ied accordingly.

Method

Each l o t was grab sampled with four grabs being taken from each bale i n Sydney and two grabs from each bale i n Adelaide and Fremantle. In

(3) The system of c lass ing which requires normal s k i r t i n g and class ing f o r s t a p l e length bu t allows t h e amalgamation of f leeces within mobs having d i f f e r e n t y i e ld and v isua l f i b r e diameters.

(4) Some of the implications of t h i s research were discussed by E.L. Jenkins i n a t a l k delivered t o a Special School i n Wool Commerce a t the University of N.S.W. on 18 October 1974, and subsequently published i n t he December 1974 i ssue of Wool TechncZogy and Sheep Breeding.

(5) For example r e f e r t o the advertisement placed i n % k m d newspaper on 14 November 1974, by f i f t een members of the N.S.W, and Queensland Woolbuyers' Association expressing t h e i r reservat ions about objective measurement and s a l e by sample.

Sydney and Adelaide the grab samples were individual ly appraised by an AWC appraiser who placed an AWC type . on the individual grabs. In Fremantle t he grabs from each l o t were combined and then appraised f o r s u i t a b i l i t y of c l i p preparation. The .appra i se rs t a b i l i t y t o repeat t h e i r o r ig ina l appraisal was measured and found t o be high on each occasion.

In order t ha t t he t r a d i t i o n a l method of inspecting the uncapped ba le could be evaluated, the ba les i n t he Sydney t r i a l were opened and typed by an AWC appraiser according t o whether he considered the ba le t o be a uniform l i n e or a mixture of types. In Adelaide and Fremantle t h i s was not necessary a s t h e l o t s had been previously examined by s to re appraisers and considered su i t ab l e f o r i n t e r l o t t i n g and consequently bales which had been appraised a s mixed were thereby excluded from the sample. '

Each bale was subsequently completely reclassed i n a l l centres by s to re c l a s se r s working t o t r ad i t i ona l c lass ing standards. The classed out components were weighed and t h e s t o r e bin designation recorded. An AWC appraiser examined each s t o r e bin and al located an AWC type t o it. By checking t h i s type c l a s s i f i ca t ion aga ins t t he b in designation of t he classed-out components, t h e type of wool contained within t he ba le could be compared with the type given t o t h e bale during appraisal of t he grab sample and the uncapped bale . Consequently t he var ia t ion of type within each bale and between ba les within a l o t could be determined. Similar ly the classing information was used t o assess how accurately t h e grab samples re f lec ted the composition of t he bale.

( b ) Large Lot T r i a l

Each l o t was grab sampled according t o the proposed Australian Standard Method for Grab Sampling of Greasy Wool from Bales which spec i f ies t h a t a minimum of 20 grabs per l o t must be taken, a l l bales being sampled equally. The grab samples from each lo t were appraised f o r s u i t a b i l i t y of c l i p preparation. The combined sample f o r each l o t wab then taken from i t s display box and classed up according t o t h e method of preparation of the c l i p . The classed-out components were appraised and weighed t o determine the degree of mixture within t he sample.

I n addit ion sample ba les from each l o t were opened and appraised f o r s u i t a b i l i t y of c l i p preparation t o provide a comparison with t h e grab sample appraisal . This information was subsequently compared with the da ta obtained from reclass ing t h e l o t s i n t he t r i a l , according t o the method of preparation of t he c l i p from which they were drawn.

The following cr , i ter ia were used t o determine whether both smal l and large l o t s were ' s t r a i g h t ' , t ha t i s a su i tab ly uniform l ine , o r 'mixed' whereby they contained an unacceptable mixture of types. For l o t s classed according t o t r ad i t i ona l standards, var ia t ions were permitted of up t o two adjacent lengths, two adjacent qua l i ty counts and two adjacent s t y l e s a s indicated by the AWC t ab l e of wool types. Lots prepared t o OCP standards were permitted var ia t ions of three adj acent v i sua l qua l i ty counts. That is, wider l imi t s were applied t o f i t t he OCP spec i f ica t ions adopted by the AWC.

These c r i t e r i a were applied t o t he information obtained from reclass ing the lo t s . A bale o r l o t was considered t o be adequately p r e p a r ~ d provided it contained no more than 5% of outsor ts . A mixed l o t contained a .g rea t e r degree of var ia t ion. The proportion of mixed bales

w i l l c l e a r l y depend on the c r i t e r i a used t o analyse the data; however, i f a more l en i en t l eve l i s chosen, say 10% of ou tsor t s , t he r e s u l t s obtained i n t h i s t r i a l a r e not s ign i f i can t ly d i f f e r en t . Consequently the conclusions drawn from the i n i t i a l r e s u l t s would not be affected.

I t must be emphasised tha t da ta derived from subject ive appra i sa l s were used t o analyse these l o t s and therefore some degree of appraiser e r r o r i s inherent i n t he analysis . During the i n i t i a l analysis extreme var ia t ions from the bulk type were taken as outsor ts . The data were subsequently re-examined t o detect cases where wools may have been fu r the r amalgamated and accepted under commercial conditions. Those wools which were super ior t o the bulk l i n e were then accepted, f o r example, where sound f leeces were found within predominantly tender l i nes . The r e s u l t s presented i n t he paper r e f l e c t t h e subsequent analysis .

Results

(a) SmaZZ Lots

( i ) Assessment of Classing

Forty-five per cent of t h e t o t a l l o t s examined contained more than 5% of ou t so r t s and were therefore unacceptable, i n terms of the c r i t e r i a adopted, with t h e incidence of mixed bales decreasing as l o t s i z e increased. F i f ty per cent of the one bale l o t s , 40% of two bale l o t s and 33% of th ree ba le l o t s were foun'd t o be mixed. The r e s u l t s a r e presented

, i n Table No. 1.

Table No. 1

ANALYSIS OF SMALL LOT CLASSING

Centre Lot Size Lots Mixed Lots Mixed Lots as % of Total

no. no. bales %

Sydney

Adelaide

Fremant l e

3 9 2 2 2 A l l centres 1 125 6 3 50

2 72 29 40 3 27 9 33

Total 224 101 45

The range of outsor ts detected within t h e mixed l o t s i s summarised i n Table No. 2. I t ind ica tes t h a t t he proportion of outsor ts within t he mixed l o t s was generally qu i t e high. Almost three quar ters of mixed l o t s contained over 20% nf orltsorts.

Table No. 2

RANGE OF OUTSORTS DETECTED WITHIN MIXED SMALL LOTS

Percentage ~ u t so r t s

Number of Mixed Lots

Sydney Adelaide Fremantle

6 - 10 4 5 2 11 - 15 5 2 1 16 - 20 3 6 - 2 1 - 25 8 2 2 26 - 30 4 5 - 31 - 35 5 5 - 36 - 40 4 6 - 41 - 45 13 14 5

Total 46 4 5 10

The most common classing e r ro r s discovered within the l o t s were unacceptable var ia t ions i n v i sua l qua l i ty number and s t ap l e length. However, no consistent form of mixture was apparent although most types of classing e r ro r s were represented t o some degree. I t appeared as if the mixed l o t s were mainly l o t s of shed outsor t s from which the c l a s s e r had attempted t o produce a marketable un i t . On numerous occasions cotted, tender and doggy wools, pieces and b e l l i e s were found within otherwise good f leece l ines . Several crossbred/merino mixtures were a l so found. In t he few cases where poor sk i r t i ng was noticed, it was a l so associated with unsatisfactory classing. Among t h e piece l o t s examined there were numerous instances where s t a in s , shor t wools and excessive differences i n qual i ty were found within t h e l o t .

( i i ) Assessment of Classers

Forty-one per cent of the bales i n the small l o t t r i a l were classed by regis tered classers . Table No. 3 d e t a i l s the number of bales a t each centre prepared by reg is te red and non-registered c lassers .

Table No. 3

BALES IN SMALL LOTS GROUPED BY TYPE OF CLASSER

Number and Percentage of Bales Classer

Sydney Adelaide Fremantle A l l Centres - - --- - -

no. % no. % no. % no. %

Registered 58 32 53 54 32 46 143 4 1

Not r e g ~ s t e r e d 124 68 46 46 37 5 4 207 59

Total 182 100 99 100 69 100 350 100

After re-class ing, 42% of these bales were found t o be mixed while reg is te red c l a s se r s did not present more uniform l ines than the non-registered group. When the aggregate r e s u l t s a r e considered, t he standard of preparation maintained by reg is te red and non-registered c lassers was very similar. Table No. 4 summarises the r e l a t i v e performance of the two groups of c lassers .

Table No. 4

MIXED BALES FROM SMALL LOTS GROUPED BY TYPE OF CLASSER

Number and Percentage of Mixed Bales Classer

Sydney Adelaide Fremant l e A l l Centres

% % no. % no. no, no, %

Registered 2 2 38 30 57 10 31 62 4 3

Not reg is te red 42 34 33 85 5 14 86 42

( i i i ) Clip Size

The incidence of mixed l o t s was r e l a t ed t o t he s i z e of the c l i p of which they form par t . The smaller c l i p s contained a greater proportion of mixed l o t s than t h e la rger c l ips . That is , the small l o t s from the la rger c l i p s were generally b e t t e r prepared. The incidence of mixed l o t s i n r e l a t i on t o c l i p s i z e i s described i n Table No. 5 .

(iv) Grab Sample and Bale Appraisal

Appraisal o f the grab sample was found t o describe the contents of the bale more accurately than the t r ad i t i ona l method of appraising the uncapped bale. The appraisers correct ly described the bale as being s t r a i g h t or mixed from the grab f o r 72% of the sample compared with 55% a f t e r appra i sa l of t h e uncapped bales . The high proportion of incorrect bale appraisals a t Adelaide may have been pa r t l y a t t r i bu t ab le t o between-appraiser e r r o r and p a r t l y t o t he higher proportion of mixed bales found the re i n comparison with the other centres. The r e su l t s of the t r i a l s ind ica te t h a t t he proportion of cor rec t bale appraisals tended t o decline as t he proportion of mixed bales i n the sample increased, which suggests t ha t the appraisers may have generally appraised apparently borderline l o t s as being s t r a igh t . The r e s u l t s a l so show that the four grabs taken per ba le i n Sydney were only s l i g h t l y more e f f i c i en t f o r appraisal purposes than the two grabs per ba le taken i n Fremantle. The r e l a t i v e eff ic iency of the grab and ba le appraisal i s described i n Table No. 6 .

Table No. 5

. . . MIXED SMALL LOTS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO CLIP SIZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . , --

Mixed Lots Centre Clip Size Clips Lots Mixed as % of

Lots Total

bales

< 26

26 - 50

51 - 75

> 75

no. no,

35

32

30

21

no.

Tot a1

Adelaide

Total

Fremant l e < 26 6 6 -

> 75 12 15 7 4 7 -..--

Total 33 38 10 26

A l l Centres < 26

26 - 50

51 - 75

> 75

T o t a l . . . . . 9 8 224 101 45

* The Adelaide and aggregate r e s u l t s f o r c l i p s over 75 bales are somewhat d i s tor ted owing t o the influence of one badly prepared c l i p from which several l o t s were drawn.

Table No. 6

ACCURACY OF GRAB AND BALE APPRAISAL FOR SMALL LOTS . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . (Percentages) , ,

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sydney Appraisal Adelalde . Fremantle A l l Centres

Bale Grab Bale Grab Bale Grab Bale Grab

Correct 76 81 30 52 7 8 7 8 55 72

Incorrect 2 4 19 70 48 2 2 2 2 45 2 8

(bl Large L o t s

( i ) Assessment of Classing

The proportion of mixed l o t s detected among the large l o t s classed t o OCP standards was s l i g h t l y lower, and among the t r ad i t i ona l ly prepared l o t s much higher, than the proportion of mixed l o t s detected within the small l o t s . However, t h e quanti ty of outsor ts found within the large lot's c lassed by both methods was generally much lower than the quant i t i es found within the small l o t s . The l o t s prepared t o OCP spec i f ica t ions were s ign i f ican t ly more uniform than those classed t r a d i t i o n a l l y even when the l a t t e r a r e judged according t o OCP standards. However, 43% of OCP l o t s s t i l l contained an unacceptable mixture of types while 63% of t r a d i t i o n a l l y prepared l o t s were mixed. Overall 55% of the t o t a l l o t s were inadequately presented f o r s a l e i n terms of the c r i t e r i a specif ied i n t h i s paper. The r e s u l t s a r e presented i n Table No. 7.

Table No. 7

ANALYSIS OF LARGE LOT CLASSING

Total Lots Mixed Lots Mixed Lots as % of

Cent r e Total

Trad. OCP Trad. OCP Trad.* Trad. OCP Trad.*

no. no. no. no. no. % % %

Adelaide' 2 4 20 14 11 13 5 8 55 54

Fremantle 18 18 11 6 8 6 1 33 44 - -- - - -. - - - . . . A l l Centres 67 44 42 19 35 6 3 43 5 2

- - - - -

* In t h i s column the r e su l t s of an analysis of the t r a d i t i o n a l l y prepared l o t s assessed against OCP standards are presented. This was done i n order t o provide a more d i r ec t comparison between the standard of c lass ing of the t r a d i t i o n a l and OCP l o t s .

The degree o f v a r i a t i o n o f type d e t e c t e d wi th in t h e b i g l o t s was gene ra l ly l e s s than t h e v a r i a t i o n d e t e c t e d wi th in t h e small l o t s . Approximately one- th i rd of the mixed l a r g e l o t s contained over 20% of ou t so r t s . The r a n g e - of o u t s o r t s d e t e c t e d wi th in t h e b i g l o t s i s summarised i n Table No. 8.

Table No. 8

RANGE OF OUTSORTS DETECTED WITHIN MIXED LARGE LOTS

Number o f Mixed Lots Percentage

Outsorts Sydney Ade 1 a i d e Fremant l e

OCP Trad. OCP Trad . OCP Trad.

36 - 45 - 2 - 3 - 3

Tota l 2 1 7 11 14 6 11

The major f a u l t s d e t e c t e d i n t h e p repa ra t ion of t r a d i t i o n a l l o t s were unacceptable v a r i a t i o n s i n v i s u a l q u a l i t y number, s t a p l e length , t e n s i l e s t r e n g t h , condi t ion and s t y l e . Among t h e OCP l o t s unacceptable mixtures o f length , soundness and v i s u a l q u a l i t i e s , inc luding t h e presence o f . doggy wools were the most common. Only a few cases o f inadequate s k i r t i n g were found and i n each case it occurred i n conjunct ion with sub-standard c l a s s ing .

( i i ) Assessment o f C lasse r s

Sixty-seven p e r cent o f t h e t o t a l l a r g e l o t s examined were c l a s s e d by r e g i s t e r e d c l a s s e r s . Table No. 9 d e t a i l s t h e number o f l o t s a t each c e n t r e c l a s sed by r e g i s t e r e d and non- reg i s t e red c l a s s e r s .

From Table No. 10 i t may be seen t h a t f o r t r a d i t i o n a l l y prepared c l i p s r e g i s t e r e d c l a s s e r s d i d no t p r e s e n t more homogeneous l i n e s than t h e non-regis tered group. However, r e g i s t e r e d c l a s s e r s us ing OCP methods maintained a h i g h e r s tandard o f p repa ra t ion . S ix ty- four p e r cent of t r a d i t i o n a l l y prepared l o t s c l a s s e d by r e g i s t e r e d c l a s s e r s were found t o be mixed compared with only 44% o f t h e i r OCP l o t s .

Table No. 9

. . LARGE LOTS GROUPED BY 'TYPE OFCLASSER.' , . . . ' , . ' ' , .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Centre C lasse r T o t a l 'Lots T r a d i t i o n a l . . . OCP

no, no. % no. %

Sydney Reg i s t e red 19 16 64 3 50 Not r e g i s t e r e d 12 36 3* - 9 - - 5 0

31 25 6

Adelaide Reg i s t e red 32 12 50 2 0 100 Not r e g i s t e r e d - 12 12 50 - -

d - 44 24 2 0

Fremant ?e Reg i s t e red 2 3 5 28 18 100 Not r e g i s t e r e d - 1 3 1 3 72 - -

& - 36 18 18

A l l c en t re s Regis tered 74 33 49 4 1 9 3 Not r e g i s t e r e d 37 34 5 1 3* 7

To ta l 111 67 44

* AWC r e g u l a t i o n s now r e q u i r e a l l OCP c l i p s t o be c l a s sed by r e g i s t e r e d c l a s s e r s . These t h r e e l o t s were prepared by owners under t h e supervis ion o f Economic Wool Producers f i e l d s t a f f p r i o r t o t h e in t roduc t ion o f t h e AWC requirement.

Table No. 10

MIXED LARGE UJTS GROUPED BY TYPE OF CLASSER

Number and Percentage o f Mixed Lots Centre C l a s s e r

T r a d i t i o n a l OCP

Sydney: Regis tered Not r e g i s t e r e d

Adelaide: Reg i s t e red Not r e g i s t e r e d

Fremant l e : Reg i s t e red Not r e g i s t e r e d

A l l Centres: Regis tered Not r e g i s t e r e d

no, % no.

T o t a l 4 2 63 19 43

( i i i ) Lot S i z e

The incidence of mixed l i n e s among t h e l a rge l o t s tended t o be g r e a t e s t among t h e smal ler of those l o t s . For example, 73% of the four b a l e l o t s were found t o be mixed and o v e r a l l t h e propor t ion of mixed l o t s decl ined as l o t s i z e increased f o r both OCP and t r a d i t i o n a l l y prepared l o t s . The r e l a t i o n s h i p between l o t s i z e and s tandard o f p repara t ion i s ind ica ted by Table No. 11.

Table No. I1

MIXED LARGE LOTS GROUPED BY MT SIZE

T r a d i t i o n a l OCP

Centre Lot

S i z e NO. NO. % No. No. % (ba les ) L o t s Mixed Mixed Lots Mixed Mixed

Sydney: < 4 4 4 100 - - - 5 & 6 9 7 78 - - - 7 & 8 5 3 60 1 - 1

9 & 10 3 1 33 - - - > 10 4 2 50 5 2 40

Adelaide:

Fremant l e :

A l l Centres: < 4 12 9 75 3 2 67

5 6 6 2 3 16 70 14 8 57

7 & 8 11 7 64 6 1 17

9 & 10 10 3 30 10 2 2 0

> 10 11 7 64 11 6 . 5 5 ~-~ ~~ -~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Total . . . ' 67 42 6 3 '44 19 43

( iv ) Size of Clips

As with small l o t s the standard of c l i p preparation of large l o t s tended t o improve as c l i p s i z e increased. I t was found t h a t the smaller c l i p s general ly contained higher proportions of mixed l o t s than the la rger c l i p s . Table No, 1 2 presents t he analysis of mixed l o t s grouped according t o c l i p s ize .

Table No. 12

MIXED LARGE LOTS CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO CLIP SIZE -- --

Tradi t ional OCP

Centre Clip Total No. Size Clips No, No. % No. No. %

(Bales) Lots Mixed Mixed Lots Mixed Mixed

Sydney: < 26 10 9 8 89 1 - - 26 - 50 6 5 5 100 1 - - 51 - 75 5 5 2 40 - - -

75 9 6 2 33 4 2 50

Tot a1 30 2 5 17 68 6 2 33

Adelaide: < 26 7 6 5 83 1 1 100 26 - 50 10 7 2 29 . 4 4 100 51 - 75 8 7 4 5 7 3 1 33

> 75 15 4 3 75 12 5 42

Total 40 2 4 14 58 20 11 5 5

Fremantle: < 26 6 5 5 100 1 1 100 26 - 50 4 1 1 100 5 1 2 0 51 - 75 7 4 1 25 3 2 67

> 75 12 8 4 5 0 9 2 2 2

Total 29 18 11 6 1 18 6 33

A 1 1 Centres : < 26 2 3 20 18 90 3 2 67

26 - 50 20 13 8 62 10 5 SO 51 - 75 20 16 7 44 6 3 50

> 75 36 18 9 SO 2 5 9 36 - Total 99 67 42 63 44 19 43

(v) Grab Sample and Bale Appraisal

I n general , appraisal of t he grab samples from large l o t s was s l i g h t l y more e f f i c i e n t i n correct ly describing the contents of t he l o t than appra i sa l of the uncapped ba les . Incorrect appraisal resul ted from two types of e r ro r s , e i t h e r the bale o r grab was appraised as s t r a igh t , when thc: l o t :ias found t o he mixed a f t e r reclass ing o r the bale o r grab

was appraised as mixed when the l o t was subsequently found t o be s t ra igh t . The first e r ro r accounted f o r the incorrect appraisal of 91% of t he incorrect bale appraisals and 88% of the incorrect grab appraisals. Overall, 55% of the l o t s were co r r ec t ly appraised from t h e grab samples i n a display box compared t o 53% from inspection of the bales. The sunnnarised r e s u l t s a r e presented i n Table No. 13.

Table No. 13

ACCURACY OF GRAB AND BALE APPRAISAL FOR LARGE LOTS

(Percentages)

Method Of Appraisal Preparation Sydney Adelaide Fremantle A l l Centres

Bale Grab Bale Grab Bale Grab Bale Grab

Tradit ional Correct 36 44 50 45 50 56 45 48

Incorrect 64 56 50 55 50 44 55 5 2

OCP Correct 50 33 63 71 67 67 62 65

Incorrect 50 6 7 37 29 33 33 38 35

Both methods Correct 39 4 2 57 59 5 8 6 1 53 55

Incorrect 6 1 58 43 4 1 42 39 47 45

Following the i n i t i a l appra i sa l of t he grab samples t he contents of each display box were classed up and then appraised again. The r e s u l t s indicate t h a t the classed grab samples described the contents of the l o t s accurately f o r 67% of the sample. However, i n contras t t o the bale and grab appraisal 65% of the appra i sa l e r rors occurred, because t h e sample was appraised as mixed when the lo t s were subsequently found t o be s t ra igh t . Thus it appears t h a t t h e display samples were over-classed probably because r e l a t i ve ly minor var ia t ions i n type, which would be acceptable i n a bale, were more noticeable owing t o the small quanti ty of wool displayed i n the box and were therefore classed out. This fac tor probably explains t he very high proportion of incorrect appraisals among

U I OCP wools i n Sydney, as 80% of t h e e r ro r s occurred because s t r a i g h t l ines

were appraised as mixed. The summarised r e su l t s a r e s e t out i n Table No. 14.

Table No. 14

ACCURACY OF CLASSED GRAB SAMPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ipercentageg) : . . . . . . . . . , .

Method o f . . Appraisal . S y d n e y . Adelaide . Fremantle . A l l Centres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preparation, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . .

Tradi t ional Correct 76 50 83 70

Incorrect 2 4 50 17 30

OCP Correct 17 79 5 6 62

Incorrect 83 2 1 44 38

Both methods Correct 65 66 70 6 7

Incorrect 35 34 30 33

Discussion

The r e s u l t s o f both the small and l a rge l o t t r i a l s ind ica te t h a t f o r the sample of wools inspected t h e overa l l standard of c l i p preparation was i n need of improvement, when measured against the standards issued by the AWC. An examination of the r e s u l t s does ind ica te some common classing e r ro r s and some of t he fac tors which may influence the general standard o f c l i p preparation.

A large proportion of the l o t s examined were inadequately prepared f o r s a l e i n terms of the AWC spec i f ica t ions when assessed according t o the c r i t e r i o n used of accepting up t o 5% of outsor ts . Although most types of c lass ing e r ro r s were represented t o some degree, no cons is ten t form of mixture was apparent. The most common f a u l t s found among both la rge and small l o t s were extreme ranges of qua l i t y , length, s t y l e and soundness which a re bas i c wool c lass ing parameters. For both small and la rge l o t s t he degree of var ia t ion was grea tes t among the smaller l o t s and l o t s drawn from small c l i p s , although the actual proportion of mixed l o t s detected among large l o t s was no lower than f o r small l o t s , contrary t o what might have been expected from the r e s u l t s of the small l o t t r i a l . This trend was observed among both the t r ad i t i ona l ly prepared and OCP c lassed wools. I t i s i n t e r e s t i ng t o note that although much c r i t i c i sm has been leve l led a t t he standard of sk i r t i ng of t he Australian c l ip (6) , only a few cases of poor s k i r t i n g were detected i n t he t r i a l . I n each case inadequate s k i r t i n g was ind ica t ive of t he unsat isfactory c lass ing of the l o t , tha t i s , t he l o t would have been found t o be unacceptable on other grounds even i f it had been adequately skir ted. ................ ...... .. -- -- (6) D * A . S . Campbell, Australian Wool Board, 'Some Buyers' and Users'

Opinions of the Current Preparation of t he Australian Wool Cl ip ' , Paper presented a t a one day school a t Glen Innes, 30 July 1969.

The general standard of c lass ing tended t o improve alnong la rger l o t s and l a rge r c l ips . I n t he former instance, it i s l i ke ly that the c lassers had s u f f i c i e n t wool t o make large even l ines without compromising t h e i r standard of preparation. Owners of the la rger c l i p s may a l so Select t h e i r c l a s se r more carefu l ly because of t he f inanc ia l importance of t he c l i p . Similarly t he c l a s se r himself i s more aware of the possible

I consequences of poor preparation. The b e t t e r preparation may a l so pa r t l y r e f l e c t the more homogeneous composition of the large mobs of sheep from

;& which the c l i p s were shorn. Classers of ten have d i f f i c u l t y es tabl ishing l ines of su i t ab l e uniformity within small c l i p s , as most o r ig ina te from properties running sheep as a s ide l ine venture. Consequently, individual mobs a re l i ke ly t o be less homogeneous a s small growers tend t o purchase ra ther than breed t h e i r sheep. The r e s u l t s of t h i s t r i a l suggest tha t i n many instances small l o t s and small c l i p s need t o be much more careful ly

I prepared i n t he shed. However, as small l o t s generally contain the less I valuable shed l i nes and a s small c l i p s are often very mixed, the

I additional expense of more carefu l preparation i n the shed than was given, may not be j u s t i f i e d and i t may be more economical, i f they a re t o be sold a t auction, f o r them t o be consigned f o r bulk classing.

Similar ly , the higher standard of classing observed among OCP c l ips may have been pa r t l y a t t r i b u t a b l e t o la rger c l i p s izes . Very few small c l i p s were prepared using OCP methods, probably because the wools were unsuitable and i t was d i f f i c u l t t o achieve large enough l i nes t o warrant the cost of t es t ing . I t may a l so have resul ted from t h e shed

I c lassers being cautious about broadening the range of var ia t ion within r I c l i p l i nes owing t o the newness of t h e method. Alternat ively, those I c lass ing t o OCP standards may have been more aware of t he t r ade ' s

I requirements and the need f o r well prepared l o t s f o r s a l e by sample ! conditions. The higher standard of c l i p preparation may a l s o r e f l e c t one

benef i t of using OCP methods i n t ha t the c l a s se r has more time t o

1 supervise a l l wool a c t i v i t i e s i n the shed, as he i s freed from many classing decisions regarding qua l i ty number and yield d i s t inc t ions and does not have t o walk t o a mu l t ip l i c i t y of bins.(7) I t i s s ign i f i can t that even when the t r ad i t i ona l ly prepared l o t s were, judged according t o the OCP c lass ing standards, they were not as well prepared a s the OCP lo t s .

The f a c t t ha t some buyers have c r i t i c i s e d the standard of preparation of OCP wools is pa r t l y ind ica t ive of t he d i f f i c u l t y appraisers have i n accurately ascertaining how well wool has been prepared once i t i s pressed i n t o bales . An important aspect of t h e present system of checking the consistency of standards, i s the a b i l i t y of appraisers i n the s t o r e and on the show f loo r t o judge how well the standards a r e being met. This t r i a l has shown tha t appraisal of the grab samples i n display boxes i s superior t o the t r ad i t i ona l method of appraising the uncapped bales f o r correct ly determining the composition of t he l o t . However, t he r e s u l t s a lso showed t h a t even with appra i sa l based on grab samples, a high proportion of mixed l o t s , pa r t i cu l a r ly among large l o t s , were not detected as being mixed.

In addi t ion, while a sample of twenty grabs w i l l provide an acceptable representation of length, colour and soundness(8), appraisal -- . . - ~

(7) Australian Wool Corporation, Objective Measurement of Wool in 1 AustraZia - TechnicaZ ,Report, October 1973 , Chapter 9.

(8) Australian Wool Board, Objective Measurement o f Vool i n .4z?stmZin October 1972, Chapter 4.

e r ro r s do occur when small -p ieces of off- type outsor ts such as clumpy bu r r , sk in pieces and s t a in s , which can a f f e c t the processing performance of the wool, a r e found i n the sample. During the t r i a l appraisers had considerable d i f f i c u l t y i n determining the exact proportion of these i n the l o t s , because of t he small amounts present i n t he sample. This study has shown t h a t even when the display sample was classed i n t o i t s components, a s ign i f i can t proportion of t h e l o t s were s t i l l incor rec t ly appraised. Problems such as t h i s can only be eliminated by an improvement i n the standard of c l i p preparation i n the shed.

The r e s u l t s indicate t ha t some c lassers a r e ignoring o r misinterpret ing the c l i p preparation guidelines s e t out i n the AWC brochure. This suggests tha t these standards may need t o be more prec ise ly delineated, i n order tha t they can be b e t t e r understood and cons is ten t ly applied by shed c lassers so tha t differences i n i n t e rp re t a t i on can be minimised. The current standards contain some d i rec t ions which a r e qu i t e c l ea r such a s 'keep merino separate from crossbred' and some direct ions which a r e s l i g h t l y ambiguous such as 'remove the long o r very short wool compared t o the bulk'. I t i s i n i n t e rp re t ing d i rec t ions such as t h i s tha t di f ferences of opinion a r i s e between shed c l a s se r s and between shed c lassers and in-s tore appraisers. One possible way of overcoming t h i s problem may be t o define the standards i n r e l a t i on t o the end use of t he wools being classed. For example, superfine c l i p s warrant a very high standard of preparation because a c lass ing f a u l t among these wools may l i m i t t h e po ten t ia l end uses t o a grea te r extent than the same f a u l t i n a more common average/topmaking wool. Once standards are introduced however, they should be enforced t o make them meaningful and t o es tab l i sh some control over t he standard of c l i p preparation.

Given the present c lass ing requirements of t he AWC and the existence of t he c l a s se r r eg i s t r a t i on scheme, it i s surpr i s ing tha t on average reg is te red c l a s se r s did not maintain a s ign i f i can t ly higher standard of preparation than t h e i r non-registered counterparts, as the proportion of mixed l o t s prepared by both groups was approximately the same. This r e s u l t could be a r e f l ec t ion of several fac tors . I n i t i a l l y some c lassers may have been reg is te red who had not had adequate t ra in ing and experience. Al ternat ively shed c lassers may be compromising t h e i r profess ional standards i n order t o comply with spec i f i c ins t ruc t ions from the grower, t o minimise s t a r l o t s and avoid bar bales and bulk-class bales and thereby reduce the grower's expenses. This f a c t o r may account f o r the higher incidence of mixed bales among one bale l o t s , which normally contain the f leeces which do not match t h e main l i n e s , and among four bale l o t s , which a r e t he minimum s i z e which can be sold a s a ' large l o t ' . In both cases t he c l a s se r is under some pressure t o produce a marketable uni t within t he cons t ra in t s imposed by t h e s t ruc tu re of t he c l ip . I f t h i s i s so, then there may be a case for making the c l a s se r more independent of the grower and more accountable t o a cen t r a l authori ty for t he standard of h i s work.

Summary and Conclusion

The l o t s examined i n the t r i a l contained a large proportion of inadequately prepared wools when judged according t o t he 1973-74 AWC standards; these standards have been s l i g h t l y revised and c l a r i f i e d s ince then, Both the small and la rge l o t t r i a l s indicated tha t large l o t s and la rge c l i p s were general ly b e t t e r prepared than small l o t s and s m ~ l l . c l i p s

r e spec t ive ly . While r e g i s t e r e d c l a s s e r s d i d not appear t o produce a b e t t e r product than non- reg i s t e red c l a s s e r s , they d i d prepare OCP wools b e t t e r than t h e t r a d i t i o n a l l y c l a s s e d l o t s . Appraisers were a b l e t o gauge t h e composition o f t h e l o t s more a c c u r a t e l y from t h e grab sample than from the opened b a l e b u t had cons ide rab le d i f f i c u l t y a s s e s s i n g t h e p ropor t ions o f 'needle i n t h e haystack ' o u t s o r t s wi th in a l o t .

Previous s t u d i e s have n o t demonstrated conclus ive ly t h a t mixed wools a r e discounted s u f f i c i e n t l y i n comparison t o s t r a i g h t l i n e s t o s i g n i f i c a n t l y lower t h e r e t u r n t o t h e producer. The ex i s t ence of a discount should b e demonstrated i f t h e constant a s s e r t i o n s o f t h e need f o r good c l i p p repa ra t ion a r e t o be j u s t i f i e d . However, although t h e necess i ty f o r good c l i p p repa ra t ion has not been e s t a b l i s h e d from t h e economic viewpoint, t h e e x i s t e n c e of r e l a t i v e l y poorly prepared l o t s may reduce t r a d e confidence i n t h e genera l s tandard o f p repa ra t ion o f t h e whole Aus t ra l i an c l i p . I n o r d e r t o ensure maximum competi t ion f o r t h e c l i p , t h e success of t h e r e c e n t l y introduced sale-by-sample method o f s e l l i n g and poss ib ly the development o f a sa l e -by-desc r ip t ion method i n the fu tu re , it would appear t o b e important a t t h i s s t a g e f o r growers t o r e t a i n and improve t h e confidence o f t h e t r a d e i n t h e s t andard o f c l i p prepara t ion maintained i n t h e shed. This sugges ts t h a t continued a t t e n t i o n should be given t o ways o f improving and enforc ing t h e s t andards by which t h e c l i p i s c u r r e n t l y be ing prepared,