Sheep & Wool

Meat and Wool Innovation type description system

The Meat and Wool Innovation type description system is based on a system originally developed by the NZ Wool Board and now accepted as the industry standard. The system is simple and self-explanatory.

The description applied to a lot of wool is specific to that lot and comprises a number of objective and subjective values. A Meat and Wool Innovation type description will therefore give a complete picture of an individual lot.

The following table lists the elements of the system.

Meat and Wool Innovation Type Description System

Mean fibre diameter

This can be applied directly from the measured result if a certificate is available or can be subjectively determined.

Breed

All wools are described for breed type and the main breed types are all represented (as displayed in Table 1).

Category

All wool categories are coded e.g. "F" for bodywool, "L" for lambs, "B" for bellies (as displayed in Table 1).

Style

Body wool style is described differently for crossbred wool, compared to merino and mid-micron wool. Merino/halfbred bodywool styles are based on topmaking styles together with a separation of the best style wools by category code:

• Speciality (spinners) (Category A)
• Combing and woollen (Category F)

Crossbred length appears in the description in two forms.

• Staple length (coded)
• Processing length (mm)

Staple length

Staple length is reported using an alphabetical code representing ranges of greasy staple length in millimetres.

Processing length

Processing length is expressed in millimetres but as a single value, indicating the expected length of the fibre after processing, and as such is of use to mill buyers and processors.

Hauteur is given as the value for fine wool breed body wools and crossbred first lambs. Barbe is given for processing lengths on all other crossbred wool. (Table 3).

Descriptors

Characteristics of wool, such as bulk, shearing season, lustre or vegetable matter. Each characteristic has a range of values (see Table 2).

Examples of wool described using the MWI types

Tested micron	Breed (crossbred)	Category (fleece)	Staple style	Length	Processing length (Barbe mm)	Descriptors
Fine wool (merino/halfbred)
20.5	M	F	2	N
Crossbred wool
37.0	X	F	2	D	115	V2 L1 G31

 

Table 1 – MWI wool type description key
Table 2 – MWI wool type descriptors
Table 3 – Length chart

Links

New Zealand Wool Board – www.woolgroup.co.nz/