Shiliuyun-Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Ma Boyu) news: A National Robotic Shearing, Wool Handling and Grading Competition was held at a breeding farm in Baicheng County, Aksu Prefecture,northwest China’s Xinjiang. The competition brought together professional shearers from all over China. As the electric shear glided back and forth on the fine-wool sheep, in a blink of an eye, a fine-wool sheep that had taken off its “winter clothes” showed up in front of everyone.

Photo shows the contestants shear sheep with electric shears at the competition site. (Photo by Correspondent Wei Peiling)

At the competition site, a suitcase-sized portable instrument for fast detection has made a brilliant appearance. This instrument can detect various types of plush, including wool, cashmere, and camel hair. Multiple parameters, such as the length and fineness of the plush, can be detected together in less than a minute. Hu Xin, an experimenter at the Institute of Animal Husbandry Quality Standards, Xinjiang Academy of Animal Sciences, said, “The advantage of the fast detection instrument is that the fineness and length of wool and cashmere can be quickly detected and graded based on the results, thus setting the price of the wool accordingly.”

Photo shows contestants shear fine-wool sheep. (Photo by Correspondent Wei Peiling)

After the competition, Zheng Wenxin, chief scientist of the national wool sheep industry technology system, took fine-wool sheep as an example to conduct on-site technical training on the identification and production performance measurement of breeding wool sheep for all the shearers participating in the event. The detection results by several graders were also reviewed and identified by the 24/7 fineness-length high-throughput integrated detector.

The graded fleece bales were packed neatly at the warehouse for distribution to the woolen market. Not only the audience really enjoyed the shearers’ superb skills and precise grading skills, but also the ranch representatives from more than a dozen provinces and prefectures across China were impressed by the power of science and technology and witnessed the core of development.

Baicheng County is known for its fine-wool sheep. In recent years, the local government has continuously strengthened the infrastructure construction of the centralized fine-wool sheep breeding area, and has attracted enterprises that adopt the “company+base+farmers”development model, promoting the breeding industry among local herdsmen. Currently, there are 14 breeding areas in Baicheng County, with a fine-wool sheep stock of 560,000 and an annual output of over 3,000 tons of high-quality wool. Relying on the pilot station of the national wool sheep industrial technology system in Baicheng County, the local government has improved the scientific breeding technology, boosted the quality and economic benefits of fine-wool sheep, and realized the standardization and scale of fine-wool sheep breeding.

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