Martin Oppenheimer

AWI 2025 board election candidate Paul Swan on innovation focus. VOTE FOR MIRAMS UREN SWAN AGAINST Humphries Chapman theland.com.au/story/9045570/…

Good evening WA woolgrowers. I’ve resurfaced after naively thinking that "wool was back" just a month ago, only to find us back in a situation where prolonged weak demand has extinguished what turned out to be a firecracker rather than a rocket. Fact is that less and less people are wearing wool and despite the belief that merino ticks all the boxes in a renewable, natural 'world' it's simply not resonating with a younger consumer. After five years of running TheMerinoPolo I can tell you I rarely make a sale to anyone under 28. Something HAS to change. Our marketing needs to move into this century, embrace social media and every day wear (instead of wool dresses for men). As wool growers, you have rare opportunities to have a say in how AWI is run. I am a strong supporter of 80% of what AWI/Woolmark do, but am very critical (as are other merino label founders) of their neglect to engage with young consumers, trendsetters, influencers and just have plain fun in flogging merino wool. Did you know in the last AWI director elections, less than 1500 (out of 40K) growers got off their arses to take 10 minutes to cast a vote. This is actually a high paying position that has been dominated by certain sectors of the industry that has a real influence on the operational decisions of AWI. Never more important (IMO) with where we are at, a lower budget and with the search on for a new CEO. YOU HAVE UNTIL NEXT WEDNESDAY TO GET YOUR VOTE IN. It's not that difficult and can be done online (I believe...) otherwise fax or EXPRESS mail wool.com/about-awi/shar… We are very lucky to have Neil Jackson representing WA. We will have a new chairman being voted in but also the opportunity for some new blood. So who to vote for.... I'm sure they are all passionate about our industry and want to make a difference 😉. I don't know all the candidates but there are three that I believe have a 'grasp' on what I talked about earlier. They are 1. Michelle Humphries - who is up for re-election but having had several conversations with in last six months, was keen to explore ways to engage younger people. 2. Paul Swan. I've known Paul for a long time. He worked for AWI and recognises the culture and the direction it needs to take. He will bring a huge diversity of skills, experience and opinions to the board. An absolute must (IMO). 3. Drew Chapman. I met Drew for the first time at Katanning this year. Experienced in both the merino industry but also in business. He listened and preempted the frustrations I have with where we are heading. He gets it. Apologies to the other candidates... but in the words of Ricky Gervais... I just don't care... I want change. So why take my opinion on board? Because I've been in this industry for 35 years, in most sectors. I've put everything I own into a (high risk) business that I believe has a massive opportunity for merino to infiltrate. The corporate / casual / streetwear market, which would provide reliable year on year demand for our main merino production. And I'm f#$%ing angry. So dig out your voting information, have a say in how the industry, that you bust your arses each and every day, is run and VOTE! Please share if you are a woolvolutionary. And buy a bloody wool T-shirt 😡..from anyone... or themerinopolo.com.au

@Martin_Opp Why Swan?

Ram breeders using Australian Sheep Breeding Values and those who don't are reaching similar indexes, to produce sires that are equally high-performers, but in different ways. stockjournal.com.au/story/9044799/…