P.M. BRIEFING : Australia Wants to Trim Sheep

CANBERRA, Australia — The government today approved tough new curbs on farmers aimed at forcing them to trim Australia’s sheep population of 180 million.

“The outlook for the wool industry is daunting,” Primary Industries and Energy Minister John Kerin said.

Australia, which produces 90% of the world’s wool for apparel, has an unsold stockpile of 3.7 million bales, mainly due to falling sales to China, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, which have shortages of hard currency.

To keep wool off the market, sales at weekly auctions around Australia will be limited to 140,000 bales instead of the current level of 170,000, Kerin told reporters.

The reduction, starting next week, will force farmers to stop shearing so many sheep and may force them to slaughter some of their herds, wool industry sources said.