Ultra Fine Wool Well Made
Stand up and be counted
More than half the world's sheep population is descended from merino sheep or is a merino cross-bred. The merino sheep originally comes from Spain, where records first show it being traded in 1307. Like all domestic sheep, it is a descendant of the mouflon. The European mouflon now only exists on Sardinia and Corsica in the wild. The first Spanish merino sheep were exported to Australia approx. 200 years ago. Whereas the priority for European sheep farming was improving the meat, Australian breeding concentrated on the wool. The Australian settlers had no other choice, as exporting meat was unthinkable with the old sailing ships. They therefore worked down through the generations on improving the sheep's wool in order to get more and finer wool fibres of the best quality. The sheep's numbers are today estimated at over one billion worldwide. With approx. 125 million sheep altogether, Australia is the world's leading supplier of fine-fibred wool.