PROBLEMS OF SHEEP FINE WOOL PRODUCTION IN RUSSIA

Abstract

The article presents material on the problems of producing high-quality
wool to provide textile factories with the necessary raw materials for the production of fabrics.
According to international researchers, the cost of fine wool (19.5-25.0 microns) is
70% affected by its fineness and uniformity, 11% by strength, 6% by the marketing factor,
5% by the length of the staple, 2% by the content of impurities and the place of rupture of the
staple, 1% by color and the type. The fineness index and, especially, the fineness uniformity
will allow us to judge the quality of wool, its real value, the quality of wool preparation for
sale (wool grading) in the economy.
The system of wool classification and determination of wool in “qualities” was developed in England in the 18th century. It was introduced in the Soviet Union in 1937. Later, to
each quality of wool, intervals of wool fineness in microns were developed and implemented.
For example, 70 quality includes a wool parameter from 18.1-20.5 microns; 64 quality wool –
from 20.6 to 23.0 microns; 60 quality ranges from 23.1 to 25.0 microns. The determination of
the wool fineness quality indicates that the wool of a particular sheep or batch of wool is in
the range from 20.5 to 23.0 microns. The organoleptic method for determining wool fineness
has existed in Russia without significant changes for more than 80 years. Over the past decades, sheep breeds, which are bred in the Russian Federation, have undergone significant evolutionary changes. It has most likely changed the nature of the wool fineness in stud rams of
fine-wool and semi- fine wool sheep breeds.
The most valuable fine wool with fineness from 19.6 to 22.5 micrometers accounts for
no more than 20 percent. For example, in 2022, the price of 18.0-23.0 microns wool fell to the
cost of 100 rubles for 1 kg, and assortments from 23.1 to 29.0 microns – 57 rubles for 1 kg.
Many small farms are forced to sell wool without grading. Hence, the price falls.
However, now some breeding farms develop the culture of sheep breeding, careful growing of
fine types of wool, professional grading and commercialization at specialized enterprises. One
of them is the agricultural production co-operative “Breeding farm Vtoraia Piatiletka” of the
Stavropol Territory, which for many years has been selling wool at a higher price unlike other
sheep breeding farms. In 2022, they sold wool with a quality of 17.5-23.0 microns for 230
rubles per 1 kg.