Core Sampling

In 1999 the Department of Agriculture (DoA) set up a link with the New Zealand Wool Testing Authority (NZWTA) to be their accredited representatives to oversee the core sampling of Falkland Islands bales of wool. There are many benefits to local wool growers in having their wool cored locally. Mainly it opens up the opportunity to sell wool to a greater number of destinations, sell it in the international market place and gain a price for their product that is based on world market indicators, to rationalise wool freight logistics and to increase flexibility as to time of selling.

In the first year growers were cautious of this new service and only 726 bales were manually cored. Over the years interest has increased, with a peak in the 2006/7 season when 5214 bales went through the system. In the 2007/8 season forty farms utilised the service equating to just under 50% of all Falkland Island farms.

For manual coring, the DoA has a set of certified bale scales in the Wool Warehouse on FIPASS, Stanley, where the bulk of all coring takes place. The coring centre on West Falkland is situated in the Transit Warehouse in Fox Bay Village. This coring centre allows West Falkland farmers, whose bales are shipped directly to world markets and do not come to Stanley, the opportunity to core sample their bales before they are shipped.

During the 2007/8 season, the Falkland Islands Development Corporation (FIDC), with advice from the DoA, investigated the possibility of purchasing a core/grab machine as a further aid to the core sampling operations in the islands. Eventually, a semi-automated core/grab machine (pictured below) was purchased from the South African Wool Bureau (WTBSA). In the 2008/9 season this machine cored 4875 bales with only 321 being hand cored.

Copyright © Department of Agriculture 2011
Falkland Islands Government