Innovation in Wool | Aviton Merino

You might not think that Milan Fashion Week and innovation in Australian agriculture have much in common, but Avington Merino brings the two worlds together.

Noel Henderson and Lindsey Henderson are the names of Avington Merino, one of Australia’s leading producers of fine Merino wool. Their farm is located in the Central Victorian Macedonian Mountains and has been in operation for 26 years.

Avington Merino produces two premium wool lines, Extra Ultrafine and Superfine. Due to the high quality and standard of its fibers, it has supplied wool to Italian designer fashion houses and appeared on the catwalks of many fashion shows.

For Noel, he continues to be amazed by the international scale of Avington fleece. “We have been to Italy many times and have seen beautiful products made from our wool.

The Hendersons pride themselves on sustainable and innovative practices in their business, always putting animal welfare first. As first generation farmers, there are no family traditions to follow and they are given the freedom to pave their own way.

One of these innovations is the traceability system.

“Quality control is important. It was before there was nothing in the industry,” said Noel. “So we developed a traceability system. We wanted to take the data through the shearing process and feed it into our wool classification system.”

All bales of wool are tracked from start to finish of production. The process involves tagging each sheep, scanning them using Bluetooth wands, and uploading the data to a central database system for accurate tracking.

“We can assure everyone who buys our product that they can see exactly what is in that wool veil.”

Sustainability, along with innovation, is at the heart of everything the Hendersons do on their property. Their environmental farming practices include careful grazing management, stream fencing, and planting native plants. The team plants 8,000 native trees each year and protects his 15% of the land as habitat for native flora and fauna.

Avington Merino is also committed to ethical farming and animal welfare. It is the first wool production facility in Australia to be certified under the Responsible Wool Standard, an international sheep and wool welfare programme.

Noel and Lindsay are passionate about the future of the wool industry, and this includes educating the next generation. They have a Jackaroo program to train young people to enter the industry and have established links with the University of Melbourne School of Veterinary Medicine.