With synthetics being a competitor to some broader apparel wool, growers should take heart that record petrol prices are not all bad news.

AWI market intelligence chief economist, Paul Deane, says the wool to synthetic price ratio is presently at about 3.6:1 and the wool to cotton ratio is 4.8:1.

"Wool is currently looking more competitive from a price point of view," Mr Deane said.

"Both these ratios are pretty healthy for wool from a historical perspective.

"Synthetics have become steadily dearer in recent years and while wool has been at record levels in US dollar terms, it is still very competitive.

"Cotton has also become more expensive as a significant amount of land in the US has been taken out of cotton production due to the growth of biofuels.

"In recent years the wool to cotton ratio has been more like six to one."

The price of synthetic fibres, such as acrylic, are not a driver of oil prices, but definitely follow the trend oil takes given they are a direct byproduct of fuel production from crude oil.

The wool to synthetic ratio is only just above its long-term average due to wool still being relatively expensive in US dollar terms and only 10pc off its 20-year high in these terms set in January.