Merino stud rams are mid-side sampled and the test results are displayed in the sale catalogues.
Here the core samples are cleaned, dried and prepared for measurement under strict test methods.
Crossbred and coarse wools are often measured for mean fibre diameter by older instruments—"Airflow" in many parts of the world, and even a projection microscope in some cases.
The finest bale of wool ever auctioned sold for a seasonal record of 269,000 Australian cents per kilogram during June 2008.
[2] In 2010 a soft ultra-fine, 10-micron fleece, from Windradeen, near Pyramul, New South Wales, Australia, set a new world record in the fineness of wool fleeces when it won the Ermenegildo Zegna Vellus Aureum International Trophy.