INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY INSIGHT WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE MERINO WOOL AND MOHAIR FIBRE INDUSTRY IN SOUTH AFRICA. By: Zakiyah Ebrahim
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griculture isn’t only about growing fruit and vegetable crops and rearing animals to provide the world’s population with food. Instead, it includes raising livestock and preparing animal products, such as fabrics, for people to use. For example, cotton, wool, (animal) fibre and leather are all agricultural products.
from merino to be worn by NASA’s astronauts! Merino sheep must be cut, known as ‘shearing’, at least once a year. If this isn’t done and their wool is overgrown, it can cause heat stress and even blindness. An average merino wether (a mature male that is used only for wool production) can produce up to 4.5 kg of wool each year!
Sheep and goats are believed to have been domesticated after dogs as far back as 7500 BCE, with breeding for woolly sheep beginning around 6000 BCE. Today, farming merino sheep for their wool and Angora goats for their lustrous mohair fibre is a huge true success story within South African agriculture.
Records suggest that the first specimens of merino sheep arrived in SA in 1789. However, the first person to successfully commercialise merino farming in SA was Michiel van Breda, notes Farmer’s Weekly. He began farming merino in 1817 on the historical Zoetendals Vallei farm, situated in the Overberg near Cape L’Agulhas. Today, merino farming is the backbone of many farming businesses in SA.
THE MERINO WOOL INDUSTRY The merino, one of the most important breeds of sheep in the world, accounts for a large percentage of the globe’s sheep population. Merino wool was first introduced in Spain, but in the 1800s, the merino wool industry shifted to mainly Germany, the US and Australia. Currently, however, merino sheep are raised across the world, and its wool is produced by several countries, such as New Zealand, Argentina and SA. Merino wool is hard to cut through, making it very durable. Studies have shown that merino wool can bend 32 000 times before breaking, compared to cotton at 3 000 times. It also dries faster than cotton and can withstand extreme environments, such as high heat. Because of this, in 2016, the BBC reported that a British company started producing clothing
Merino South Africa is the representative body of all merino farmers and stud breeders in the country. It was established in 1937, and in 2014 said that merino was the largest sheep breed in SA, with about 13 million sheep and 2 500 farmers at the time. Most merino farmers receive about 40% of their income from wool production and the rest from meat. THE MOHAIR INDUSTRY AND SA’S STRONG INFLUENCE Mohair has become one of the world’s best-quality luxury fibres, so much so that it’s commonly called the ‘diamond fibre’. Mohair is made from the hair of the Angora goat, which are believed to have evolved into its current form in Tibet, but over time, migrated to Turkey. Today, a handful of countries are the
Science Stars Agricultural Science Issue | www.sciencestars.co.za
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