Optimism is surging among sheep farmers with global shortages fuelling a boom in prices for wool and meat.
In Hawke's Bay, it's a welcome development after years of financial struggles for some in the industry.
The conflict in Iran was believed to have driven the rising fortunes for wool with tightening supply chains pushing the product to its highest prices paid at auction since 2011. Another factor being reported was the rising cost of petrochemical-derived synthetics, also due to the oil crisis.
The Napier auction room was a hive of activity today as bidders raced to secure the prized East Coast wool. As the numbers steadily rose, the auction hit a $6.20 high.
Kells wool auction manager Richard Kells said the results were fantastic. "It's defying gravity, we are in out-of-space territory," he said.
The regions wool was highly prized, with the climate encouraging a thicker, tougher fibre used for carpets, rugs and interior furnishings.
Industry experts hoped the growing sales would result in more sheep the country was once so well known for.
Wool auction manager says the demand for East Coast wool is "defying gravity" due to global shortages combined with increased demand. (Source: 1News)
"The low wool prices of the last decade have starved people out of sheep farming, many had to do other things to make adequate income, so we are very hopeful that these improved prices will be a spur to increasing the sheep population," Kells said.
"We know tourists like to see sheep on the green hills and we know they've got wool products on their shopping list."
With prices expected to remain at high levels for some time, farmers are finally able to see profit margins after years of finical losses with sheep farming.
Central Hawke's Bay farmer Angie Malcolm said she hoped the trends continued as wool was a perfect product.
"It has been a very long time coming for these wool prices to finally be on the up side of things and it's such an amazing product. It's sustainable; it's environmentally friendly; the sheep need it to come off for their own health; it's got all these amazing qualities and we just need to make sure we keep using it so we don't lose the wool industry in New Zealand.
"It's amazing to see wool prices finally going in positive direction and we just need to really keep it going that way, two years ago we were only getting $2 a kilo, last year [was] $3.20.
"I've always been passionate about farming. I never wanted to call it quits but there was days, you do think, 'why am i doing this?' I'm glad I stuck with it," Malcolm said.
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