72 | nzdairy From disaster comes opportunity When two snow storms ripped through Canterbury ten days apart on 1992, the power of nature took with it 2 million lambs and 40,000 calves, creating the genesis of Woolover Ltd. Coming from a strong sheep farming background in Canterbury, David Brown was deeply moved by the disastrous losses and felt the key to prevent a reoccurrence of that magnitude lay in pure natural wool. In May of 1993 David met Ian McFarlane, a Senior Scientist at WRONZ (Wool Research of New Zealand) in Lincoln and explained his idea about lamb covers made from natural wool, and its merits. Using a needle punching process developed in the early 1900s, WRONZ made some woollen fabric about 400gms in density. Armed with a roll of fabric, a pair of scissors and a stapling gun, Ian and David took a flight to Ruakaka to trial the product on 20 lambs, looking amongst other things at ewe/lamb bonding, and after two days were satisfied they were on the right track. “In the first eight weeks of production we sold 50,000 units,” says David. “There was a need and we were fortunate enough to use wool, which is a marvellous natural fibre, and it did everything we asked of it. It provided warmth, it stretched, and it wasn’t a straight-jacket. After three weeks use it looks pretty scruffy but at least you have a live lamb.” While some farmers remove the covers after a week to wash them and put them on another new born lamb, David encourages farmers to leave the cover on and let the lamb enjoy the growth rate. “We did trials with twin lambs, with one twin covered, between mid-Canterbury and Southland and found there was a definite correlation between warmth and growth rates. The design of the cover is critical, and needs to cover the heart and lung area, so that when the lamb or calf is sitting in cold, wet, frosty or snowy ground there’s a barrier of wool keeping the animal warm. Wool has that marvellous ability to breathe and self-regulate, so the animal never gets too warm or too cold. Wool will absorb a third of its weight in water before it feels wet. As long as you can keep the wind chill off the lamb, it stands a good chance of survival.” David describes the growth of the business as exponential. While the first two years focused on lamb covers, in 1995 attention was drawn to dairy calves with successful trials held in America. Richard Loader A cow and calf showing the Woolover Regular Calf. DAIRY SERVICES » Woolover Limited “Later, I was encouraged to visit World Wide Sires parent company in California. They liked the look of the calf covers and ordered 400, distributing one to each of their worst performing clients, with the comment — ‘pay us for the cover if it’s any good, but don’t if not.’ Within eight weeks they were paid for every cover, and asked for a worldwide franchise on the marketing of those covers, and that’s still largely in place today.” Markets today include New Zealand and Australia, North America and Canada, Japan, some into Europe, with good potential in the United Kingdom. Products include lamb and dairy calf covers, Finn/goat covers and Fit N Forget beef calf covers especially designed for the Montana market, and biodegrade wherever they fall. Products are made under contract by Christchurch based Terra Lana which makes woollen house insulation, amongst a raft of other woollen products. 03 354 4123 or 027 434 1606 woolover@xtra.co.nz www.woolover.co.nz Woolover covers dramatically improve the survival of new born animals. LAMB • CALF • FIT N FORGET BEEF CALF • KID GOAT AVAILABLE THROUGH ALL LEADING STOCK & STATION AGENTS AND VET SUPPLIES. The one variable you can control to improve pro it. If you can get to them, you can save them. Cost e ective & practical Easy to it Improves weight gain Waterproof & breathable Durable & cleanable • • • • • • WE’RE COVERED “We supply Terra Lana with the wool. I’m very fussy about where we buy our wool and have an on-going supplier for that. The criteria is accuracy. The micron and length of wool must be accurate, so that it results in a good usable lamb cover with the maximum about of fibres providing the warmth.” The man who has circled the sun eighty times is deeply passionate about the product that was born from adversity and says he believes in wool, and using it to help farmers and their young stock survive the harsh winters.
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