{"id":2743,"date":"2022-03-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.farmersweekly.co.nz\/tributes-to-wool-stalwart-bay\/"},"modified":"2022-05-03T04:20:12","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T16:20:12","slug":"tributes-to-wool-stalwart-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/people\/tributes-to-wool-stalwart-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Tributes to wool stalwart Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

Wool industry pioneer Bay de Lautour has passed away in Waipukurau after a working lifetime of service to farming.<\/i><\/p>\n

The New Zealand wool industry has paid tribute to farmer, director and businessman Maurice Bayly (Bay) de Lautour who passed away in Hawke\u2019s Bay recently, aged 88.<\/p>\n

His individual contribution to the wool industry was huge, in terms of energy, commitment and his own capital, Primary Wool Cooperative (PWC) chair Richard Young said.<\/p>\n

Bay formed PWC 48 years ago, stood down as chair a few years ago and saw it merge with Wools of NZ (WNZ) last year, bringing its 1400 members into the largest grower group of more than 2000.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took a great deal of satisfaction from that formation and he continued to be a director of PWC till his death,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n

Under Bay\u2019s governance, PWC formed a joint venture with Elders Wool in 2004 and then merged with Carrfield Wool a decade later.<\/p>\n

Ever since the formation of WNZ in 1993, Bay strived for grower unity, using the PWC success as an example.<\/p>\n

Campaign for Wool director Tom O\u2019Sullivan said Bay had passionately and financially supported the trust since its formation in 2010 at a time when wool was struggling.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow the prospects look positive with a major change of attitude in consumers, after his life-long drive for wool awareness and education,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole wool industry is saddened by the loss of such a great pioneer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bay and his wife Shona moved to the Flemington district south of Waipukurau in 1958 and developed the Te Whangai property with sheep, cattle and, later on, deer.<\/p>\n

They semi-retired to Takapau in 1984 and son Hamish took control, along with grandson Harry de Lautour, who was killed in a farm accident in late 2020.<\/p>\n

Bay was a founding member of the Wairarapa Romney Improvement Group with Te Whangai in 1970 and at the jubilee celebration in 2020 his contribution was noted by co-founder Bill Hume.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have all hoped that some day there will be recognition of wool\u2019s attributes and that this wonderful fibre will have some value,\u201d Hume said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have all hoped, but the two people who have worked so hard to have wool recognised and to market it successfully are Bay and Hamish de Lautour. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been untiring in their efforts to improve returns from wool and we thank them for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016 Bay was recognised with the Laurie Dowling Memorial Award in the Hawke\u2019s Bay Primary Industry Sector Awards for an outstanding contribution to Hawke\u2019s Bay agriculture.<\/p>\n

He was also recognised as a Member of the NZ Order of Merit in 2020 for services to farming.<\/p>\n

He was a founder of Rural Support on the East Coast and saw it grow into a nationwide organisation.<\/p>\n

WNZ said Bay had been involved with wool his whole life and his death was a great loss to the industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will always be remembered for his huge contribution as an advocate for change in the industry where it increased the returns for growers,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

WoolWorks chief executive Nigel Hales said Bay was instrumental in getting his first job in the wool industry in 1978 for Associated Wool Exporters in Dannevirke.<\/p>\n

Along with others, Bay set up NZ Wool Spinners, which Hales said was a move marked by foresight and courage.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe began farm-to-yarn contracts and even today those ideas would look fresh,\u201d Hales said.<\/p>\n

Bay and Shona have four children, Hamish, William, Jane and Kate, 15 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.<\/p>\n

There was a private family church funeral, which may be followed by a memorial service when regulations allow.<\/p>\n

Hamish said his father had devoted 80% of his time to the wool industry and then fitted everything else into the remaining 20%.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe flew all over the country in his own light aircraft at his own expense,\u201d Hamish said <\/p>\n

\u201cNow he has gone, other wool producers will have to step up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Development of Te Whangai was followed by sheep breeding and an emphasis on parasite resistance, written in a paper for the NZ Society of Animal Production in 2010, for which he gained great satisfaction.<\/p>\n

Since grounded from flying, Bay\u2019s happy place was spraying thistles on William\u2019s farm near Waipukurau and pushing dirt around with a bulldozer bought for a vineyard development at Takapau.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New Zealand wool industry has paid tribute to farmer, director and businessman Maurice Bayly (Bay) de Lautour who passed away in Hawke\u2019s Bay recently, aged 88.\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":1366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[109,103],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t