AFTER a day of emergency mulesing negotiations, the question now is whether Australia's peak sheep research and development organistaion, in its haste to prevent further exodus of woolgrowers from the industry, may inadvertently have worsened the situation.
At an Australian Wool Innovation meeting last Friday, the group of nine directors agreed to acknowledge publicly that the 2010 mulesing "deadline" was unlikely to be reached and the continuation of a deadline approach would risk deterioration in welfare of sheep and production and supply of wool.
But just days after the announcement was made some woolgrowers worry that the plan may backfire at a time when growers need more market reassurance, not less.
Former AWI director Dr John Keniry, woolgrower at Cumnock, NSW, who has not mulesed the lambs from his 4500 ewe superfine ewe flock for the past two years said: "I am appalled by the decision.
"My view is it is up to the individual grower but there are an increasing number of lambs that are not being mulesed and that should be put out there."
As part of a AWI commissioned report on flock demographics and producer intentions undertaken by DAFWA in February, 24pc of Merino lambs will not be mulesed in 2009 (up from 2pc in 2005); 31pc of producers will not mules any lambs in 2009 (up from 23pc in 2008); 52pc of producers have a breeding strategy to source less wrinkled genetics and around 55pc of lambs were being treated with pain relief.
Dr Keniry, also chair of Sheep CRC, said such statistics should outline to AWI that many growers had kept to the original commitment to phase our mulesing.
But AWI directors, he said, appeared unwilling to face such facts.
Much of the international retail communiqué, announced yesterday, focused on the AWI decision as being damaging to future trade.
The British retail consortium, which represents 80pc of United Kingdom retailers, said AWI's move was not "good enough".
Director of business environment Jane Milne told ABC that her retailers were unlikely to buy wool from mulesed sheep after 2010.
"(We're) very disappointed and extremely concerned," she said.
"This is something that our customers raised with us as an issue."
Erik Autor, head of the National Retail Federation yesterday was reported as saying that "these options may include directing suppliers not to use wool from animals that have been mulesed, even with pain relief".
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