Top wool advocate bales out
The conversion of productive farmland into trees has pretty much annihilated the wool industry.
The South Island offering of 14,157 bales saw a 70% clearance, New Zealand Wool Services International's marketing executive, Paul Steel reports.
The weighted indicator for the main trading currencies was barely changed, down 0.27%.
Coarse fleece and second shears generally firmed by up to 2.5%.
Merino and half-bred fleece prices followed the Australian trends of the past two weeks with prices declining.
Fine crossbred fleece and second shears came off the highs of the last South Island sale and settled around levels of last week's North Island offering.
Combing oddments were generally unchanged.
Competition was dominated by China with support from Western Europe, Australasia and India.
Next sale on the 5 October 5 comprises approximately 10,000 bales from the North Island.
Grace Su, a recent optometry graduate from the University of Auckland, is moving to Tauranga to start work in a practice where she worked while participating in the university's Rural Health Interprofessional Programme (RHIP).
Two farmers and two farming companies were recently convicted and fined a total of $108,000 for environmental offending.
According to Ravensdown's most recent Market Outlook report, a combination of geopolitical movements and volatile market responses are impacting the global fertiliser landscape.
Environment Canterbury, alongside industry partners and a group of farmers, is encouraging farmers to consider composting as an environmentally friendly alternative to offal pits.
A New Zealand dairy industry leader believes the free trade deal announced with India delivers wins for the sector.
The Coalition Government will need the support of at least one opposition party to ratify the free trade deal with India.

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