Adelaide University: Commercialisation of bioharvesting wool technology
Opportunity for
- An animal health partner to assist in the development and commercialisation of an injectable biochemical agent for wool harvesting.
- Investors to support the development, regulatory approval, and commercialisation of this pharmaceutical wool-harvesting solution.
Learn more and explore collaboration opportunities at the Ideas to Impact: Pitches for collaboration session, evokeAG, 2pm on 18 Feb 2026.
Opportunity description
Industry challenge
The Australian wool industry is facing a significant challenge due to a shortage of skilled shearers. Traditional shearing methods, which have remained largely unchanged for over two centuries, rely heavily on manual labour and specialised expertise.
This shortage is placing pressure on woolgrowers, with anecdotal reports indicating that some are leaving the industry because they cannot secure shearers when needed. For others, the rising cost and logistical difficulties associated with shearing are making wool production increasingly difficult to sustain.
Current opportunity
An alternative to traditional shearing has been developed at Adelaide University (AU) with funding from Australian Wool Innovation Ltd. AU have developed an injectable biochemical agent and are now seeking commercial partners to assist in developing and commercialising this technology.
Submit your EOI by enquiring now.
Heading to evokeAG? Join us at the session on Day 2 of evokeAG: Ideas to Impact: Pitches for collaboration session, 2pm on 18 Feb 2026 to learn more and explore collaboration opportunities.
Opportunity background
This new solution targets a key biochemical event involved in fibre hardening in the wool follicle, which creates a short, weakened zone of wool simultaneously in all fibres across the sheep. The weakened wool can then be broken with very little force, some weeks after the treatment. Importantly, despite the low strength, the wool is retained on the animal under normal grazing conditions during the period of growth.
The weakening is induced through a pharmaceutical that can be delivered by the woolgrower to interrupt the normal growth phases of the fibre. This allows the woolgrower to time harvesting to suit the required length of wool fibre and not be reliant on the availability of skilled labour for shearing.
The pharmaceutical does not completely break the fibre, rather it leads to wool with very low tensile strength and slightly lower fibre diameter over a very short length (<1.0mm). This allows the wool to be collected in shed through a mechanical process and not lost in the field.
View article here.
Potential other applications
The research is currently focused on the harvesting of wool in the Australian sector. There is potential for the methods which are identified to be extended into:
- Sheep in other production regions
- The removal of wool/hair from livestock for abattoirs
- The harvesting of other fine animal hairs (alpaca, goat, rabbit)
- The grooming of non-shedding companion animals (such as poodle cross dogs)
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