After a lengthy period assessing the product, its effectiveness and market fit Heiniger have taken a 25per cent equity position in Biological Wool Harvesting Company the owners of BioClip.

Heiniger have been granted global marketing rights through a distribution agreement recently agreed to by the stakeholders of this revolutionary wool harvesting technology.

Managing Director of Heiniger Australia Mr Gary Lyons said that for some time they had been watching with interest the progress BioClip has made.

Mr Lyons said he did not think that BioClip would replace conventional shearing in the forseeable future but that it would capture a good share of the lamb and weaner market as this has been the focus of research and development to date.

When asked if in fact Heiniger were now in competition with shearers Mr Lyons stated that he felt many engaged in the shearing process would rather inject and place nets on sheep than risk potential work related injury as can occur with conventional mechanical shearing.

"The shearing industry has been good to Heiniger and it is time that we gave a bit back to those who have supported us for over two decades. We have for some time placed emphasis in our product development on making the wool harvesting process easier and safer, BioClip is merely an extension of this philosophy," Mr Lyons said.

Heiniger have appointed Dr Tim Watts a qualified veterinarian and BioClip user to drive the future of Heiniger’s push into non mechanical wool harvesting.

Dr Watts said significant advancements have been made in BioClip in the past two years both in retention net design and EGF (epidermal growth factor)

formulations.

“The real advancement for BioClip is now the cost of it” Dr Watts said.

“We have seen valuable cost savings that flow from volume net and EGF manufacturing which means that a woolgrower can now BioClip his sheep for under $5 per animal”, he said.

The other stakeholders in Biological Wool Harvesting include Thorney Holdings, Tricom Investments and John Lebreton.