This Episode is part 1 of a mini series - next week we will meet Sam Elsom, founder of Sea Forest. Clare travelled to tasmania thanks to M.J. Bale

We hear so much about product in fashion; about the clothes, and the brands. Thankfully, we’re now starting to hear more about the makers, garment workers and skilled artisans behind the manufacturing scenes. But we still hear very little from the people and processes behind the raw materials. This week, we’re looking at wool, with a lovely interview with Tasmanian woolgrower Simon Cameron, who Clare met seven years ago while writing Wardrobe Crisis.

Simon’s property Kingston is in the northern Midlands of Tasmania, near(ish) to Launceston. His father farmed it before him. In fact, the property has been it in the family for four generations. Now, as then, Simon shares the joint with wombats, wallabies, bettongs even Tassie devils, and mob of superfine Merino sheep. But the little things are just as important - the native grasses and wild flowers, which, here, are largely undisturbed in some of the state’s last remaining pristine grasslands.

What are the challenges of managing the land in this way? What’s life really like on the land? How is Kingston’s clip produced and makes it so special? And what’s the story behind MJ Bale’s quest to make carbon neutral wool with Kingston as a partner?

“THERE’S NOT AN OIL WELL BEHIND WOOL, THERE’S WHOLE FANTASTIC STORY… IT’S NOT JUST THE GROWER, THE WAY THE FABRIC IS WOVEN AND FINISHED IS EXTRAORDINARY, AND THEN THE SKILLS THAT GO INTO THE TAILORING. THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO PUT A HIGHER VALUE ON, NOT JUST SOME FLIMSY ITEM WE CAN THROW OUT WHEN WE’VE WORN IT AT THE WEEKEND.” - SIMON CAMERON

ABOUT M.J. BALE

M.J. Bale is an Australian menswear brand (or as they put it, “gentleman’s clothier”) known for its beautiful suiting and innovative sustainability initiatives.

The zero-emission wool trial discussed in this interview went for 300 consecutive days. It included 48 Kingston Merino ewes, which were fed a daily supplement of asparagopsis seaweed, grown by Sea Forest in Triabunna, Tasmania. CSIRO science had proved that feeding ruminant livestock (e.g., sheep and cattle) asparagopsis seaweed as just 0.2% of their daily diet reduced their methane emissions by between 80%-98%. The trial yielded a total of 105 kilograms of superfine Merino wool.

NOTES

TASMANIAN NATIVE GRASSLAND DECLINE “Extensive lightly wooded, grassy plains were common along the valley floors and river flats of the Midlands and Derwent Valley … The early settlers’ descriptions of the grasslands and grassy woodlands indicate that the native grasses were taller and lusher, wildflowers were more prolific, and soils were richer and more friable than today. The decline in small mammals, absence of Aboriginal digging for edible roots, introduction of domestic hard-hooved livestock, altered fire regimes, and establishment of introduced plants since settlement are all factors that help explain the changes seen in native pastures in the last 200 years.” Via

A NATURAL VALUES SURVEY conducted on KINGSTON in 2005 revealed its importance. “The report found that Kingston contains about 8% of all remaining Kangaroo Grass Grasslands in Tasmania, 12 threatened plant species and habitat for many threatened animals. Given these findings and the fact that about 70% of the region has been cleared since the 1800s, the report stated Kingston was likely ‘a place of national significance’.” via bushheritage.org.au

SOIL HEALTH According to Managing Tasmanian Native Pastures, As many as half the sheep in Tasmania graze on native pastures. “Native pastures underpin the longterm productivity, profitability and sustainability of grazing activities on many Tasmanian properties, particularly fine wool grazing properties. They are also a significant vegetation community for conserving native plants and animals, and maintaining stable and healthy soils.’ From report as above. Read the rest here.

HOW FINE? A micron (micrometre) is the measurement used to express the diameter of wool fibre. Merino wool is the finest and usually measures anything from 15 to 25 microns but can still be finer. Check this out to find out more about the finest worsted cloths.

VITALE BARBERIS CANONICO is a fine Italian mill that’s been weaving luxury cloth since the 1660s - read all about it here.

SINGLE ORIGIN SUITING They say: ‘Our premium Kingston suits have been crafted from Single-Origin wool that is composed of 100% Merino wool that has been woven into luxurious super 150s cloth. The wool was sourced from a 112-year-old Kingston family farm located in the Northern Midlands of Tasmania, which operates its enterprise with ethics, integrity and an adherence to sustainability.” Shop suiting here.  

A % of every Kingston suit sale is returned to Simon Cameron to be reinvested into projects that help maintain the landscape, natural values and enhance biodiversity.

EU LABELLING & the CLIMATE IMPACT OF WOOL Everybody’s talking about the EU’s Product Environmental Footprinting (PEF) project. “From 2023, all clothes and shoes sold in the EU will be assigned a colour-coded label. This follows a course set by the traffic light labelling system on food products in some territories denoting green (for healthy) through to red (unhealthy), but in this case aims to offer a guide to planetary health. That is the aim but as Professor Ingun Grimstad Klepp the renowned sustainable textiles expert from Consumption Research Norway (SIFO) commented recently ‘The aims [of the EU’s eco labelling plan] are super. The outcomes will be the problem’.” Enter, the Make the Label Count campaign.

Why is wool missing out? Read AWI’s take: “There are many ways to assess environmental sustainability, but one popular and effective method is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is a tool that attempts to tell in technical terms the environmental story of products across their entire supply chain – from raw material production; through processing, manufacturing and distribution; to a product’s use, repair and recycling; and finally to a product’s end-of-life and disposal. All these phases of a product’s supply chain affect the environment is some way. Wool has a great environmental story to tell, so why have ratings agencies rated wool poorly? Until recently, assessments have looked only at the production part of the supply chain (where natural fibres such as wool and cotton are scored poorly), not at the whole supply chain. This means that, for example, the fact that wool is 100% biodegradable (in contrast to synthetics) has not been taken into account by the agencies.” More here.

Want more? Deep dive on the work of Veronica Kassalty, mentioned by Clare, here.

GHGS & METHANE GHGs means greenhouse gases. Carbon gets all the attention, but methane also contributes to emissions. Methane (CH4) is a hydrocarbon that is a primary component of natural gas. Methane is emitted from a variety of anthropogenic (human-influenced) and natural sources - including sheep burps.

CARBON SEQUESTRATION is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide.

CARBON NEUTRAL means having a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks.

NATURAL CAPITAL ACCOUNTING involves measuring and reporting the amount, condition and value of environmental assets to support the wellbeing, culture and livelihoods. Read the CSIRO’s take here. Want more on ECOSYSTEM SERVICES? Go back and listen to Ep 118 with Helen Crowley on Biodiversity.

Allan Savory is the founder of regenerative farming organisation SAVORY INSTITUTE. They say, “Currently, grasslands are desertifying at alarming rates. Grasslands are vast landscapes that have the capacity, if properly managed, to address some of humanity’s most urgent challenges such as water and food insecurity, poverty, and climate change.’ Discover here.

MULESING While this interview does not delve into the topic of mulesing (the process of cut off the folds of skin around a sheep’s bum to prevent fly strike), it is not practiced in Kingston. There’s the full story in Wardrobe Crisis the book if you do want to read about why mulesing happens & how, in certain climates/conditions and with the right management, the need for it can be bread out of a sheep.

WOOL PRICES In an op-ed for the Australian Superfine Woolgrowers Association’s annual report last year, the guy who runs the Schneider group (Italian wool processors) noted: “The future of the wool industry depends on our ability to increase our market share which has never been this low… In 2000, wool represented 2.5% of all textiles fibres; today it’s below 0.9%.”

P.S. FOR OUR INTERNATIONAL LISTENERS, MEET THE AUSSIES…