Finding out more about the price of wool…

Last week our blog announced that Celtic Sheepskin is supporting the Campaign For Wool. Fast forward a few days later and sitting at my desk I find myself intrigued to learn more about the current market situation for sheep farmers, but in a way that me - a non-farmer - can comprehend. Is the situation really as bad as they say it is?

In the news recently there was an feature on a Devon farmer who had introduced a flock of self-shearing sheep (click here to read article) The-self-shearing-sheep-save-farmers-thousands-pounds.html. This reached BBC news as well as some national papers and went in some way to highlight to Joe Bloggs just how little the farmers get per sheep and the lengths they are going to try and increase their return. It is always the small detail like the cost of feed that make a significant difference to farmers because the return is so low. As the service industry is the dominant sector in the UK, the majority of people who wear knitwear and buy woollen rugs are working in offices with complimentary tea & coffee machines and have the freedom to buy lunch at a tiny fraction of the wages earnt per month. It is therefore no wonder that we don’t choose to buy natural wool over cheaper synthetic fibres as we can’t relate to the different processes involved in the two and see the justification to why wool costs that little bit more.

After continuing to browse the internet for articles of interest on this subject, that I was surprised to read in Farmers Weekly Interactive dated 14th June, that wool prices are predicted to reach a 10-year high! (click here to read article) Quite a contrast to the Daily Mail article that paints a grave picture of costs. And in fact three days previously The Farmers Guardian had published a similar positive story that wool producers are set to gain from price rises. In this they pointed out “That is not the only good news. Based on recent prices achieved at auctions held at the BWMB’s Bradford headquarters there is every indication that next year will also see a “considerable” price increase” (click here to read article)

So is there still a need to “Campaign For Wool” and get everyone involved in a wool week this October?

After the delight of these articles passed, I remembered that I stumbled across a feed in January when the Campaign For Wool was hitting headlines, and found a number of farmers discussing the price of beef & sheep farming. The feed ended with an interesting comment that summarised just how well the farmers see the industry is doing;
“The present high wool prices should be sustainable for the better wools (white) and should at least mean the value of the wool will cover the cost of shearing most sheep this year” (click here to read the feed)

Similarly, at the end of the Farmers Guardian article, a farmer wrote “eeeerrrr....we have 250 ewes, just been notified that my chque will go up a lot, from about £250 to £400....not sure I'll book a world cruise just yet!!!!” The type may have been charmingly simple, but the point is pretty clear; the increase isn’t yet making enough of an impact to our farmers.

According to Jo Dawson, and CEO of H. Dawson Wool, International wool suppliers in an article written by Wool News.netit was 18 months ago that Prince Charles became aware of the very low prices being paid to wool farmers and with that the accelerating drift of farmers from sheep production both in the United Kingdom and in many important sheep producing areas of the World. (click here to read article)

So the efforts on the 26th January, when Prince Charles invited over 140 wool industry stakeholders together and all agreed to recreate good sustainable demand for wool, are still of great importance to the farmers now. The campaign will help to continue this rise. The wheels have started to turn in the right direction, but it will take consumers to push for natural wools and the joint efforts from all the industry’s stakeholders to ensure this message stays prominent. Only if wool prices continue to rise will the farmers receive the profits they deserve.