Business Notes Farming

Not every shepherd these days is out tending his flocks in a field. To produce a more perfect wool, some Australian farmers are keeping their sheep indoors and pampering them like Park Avenue poodles. They provide tires, logs and rubber balls to keep the sheep amused, feed them a vitamin-enriched mix instead of letting them graze, and even wrap them in cloaks to protect their fleece from dirt.

The result of this extraordinary care is Sharlea, a wool whose fibers are undamaged by weather and virtually dust free. The fleece of a Sharlea sheep now brings farmers $56 for about 7 lbs., in contrast with $14 to $17 for the wool of sheep raised normally. While Sharlea flocks are growing, they still account for only about 15,000 of Australia's 139 mil- lion sheep. Some critics decry even that modest inroad, insisting that sheep are happier in their natural environment. Not so, contends Robert Beggs, who has 435 shedded sheep on his farm near Melbourne. Says he: "If I opened the door and herded them out, they would be back in five minutes."