Data from AWEX on the mulesing status of first-hand wool offered for the full 2017/18 season shows that there was a significant lift of around 20% in the number of bales declared as either Non-Mulesed (NM) or Pain Relief (PR). This increase took the share of NM wool to 11.5%, well above the 9.9% share recorded in 2016/17. The share of PR wool lifted to 31.6%. There was a 9% drop in wool declared as Ceased Mulesed (CM). This may be due to a change in definition for properties to be eligible to be declared as Ceased Mulesed. The definition is now: Wool from sheep where mulesing has ceased on the property. No lambs born on this property in the last 12 months have been mulesed. No purchased sheep are mulesed.

The number of bales with a Blank NWD increased by 2%. As a result, the volume of first hand offered wool with an NWD was up by 11% for the season. The volume of wool without an NWD fell by 9%. The share of wool with an NWD lifted to 65.9%, well ahead of the 61.2% with an NWD in 2016/17. The increase in the use of the NWD over recent years has been striking: in 2013/14 only 43.3% of all wool offered in Australia had an NWD. The share has increased by 20%+ in just four years.

Further details and a table giving the detailed breakdown of the volume of wool offered with each mulesing status and a chart showing a comparison of mulesing status in 2017/18 and in 2013/14 is included in the NCWSBA Weekly Newsletter for the week ending 13th July 2018, available to NCWSBA members.