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Abstract
In 1981, there were 158 cooperative wool marketing pools and 9 cooperative
warehouses. Pools operate a few days each year to assemble and sell wool.
Warehouses operate daily and also grade, store, and blend wool to buyer
specifications. Pools frequently sell without knowledge of grade and clean fiber
content. Producer bargaining power is also limited by declining wool production,
large variation in pool membership and volume, and overlapping marketing
territories among warehouses. Processing, consolidating pool and warehouse
marketing, and changing pool pricing to reflect clean fiber content are options to
lower marketing costs and better market power.