Wool...what will you do with yours...

muleman · Jul 8, 2021

Frank-the-Wool said:
You seriously under priced it!!
The last auction price for it was over £5.00 so you should have had over £500.

I am not saying you did the wrong thing, but it does show that without the Auction system as with livestock the true value is not transparent.

Unfortunately i dont set the price.
Ive never recieved anywhere near £280 for it from the wool board in the past even in the good years, this way at least more of the value is ending up in my pocket.
A lot of my gains will be coming from the fact i have no haulage to pay, a collection depot has been set up local to me.
The wool board have screwed us down so far that i am delighted to receive half its true value, that says it all really

tepapa · Jul 8, 2021

tepapa said:
Still got more than he would if he'd sent it to the WB.

Even though I wrote the quote above, I do know that the WB hasn't set next year's price so I can't be sure how much they would likely pay but after reading a month back that they'd paid out something like £1.60/kg for black BFL but sold it for over £10/kg I wouldn't hold my breath that they plan to give anymore than @muleman received.

muleman · Jul 8, 2021

tepapa said:
Even though I wrote the quote above, I do know that the WB hasn't set next year's price so I can't be sure how much they would likely pay put after reading a month back that they'd paid out something like £1.60/kg for black BFL but sold it for over £10/kg I wouldn't hold my breath that they plan to give anymore than @muleman received.

I had a feed rep in the yard yesterday, he has a farm and sheep and had sent his wool off to the wool board, he recieved a cheque for £15....he was very cheesed off, i said ....'dont worry, you will get another £15 next year'.

We both just laughed, i think farmers are just fed up with system the wool board use so have been forced to look at other options.

muleman · Jul 8, 2021

Tbh honest i wouldnt be surprised if the wool board folded before long...they are losing a lot of wool.
Think it was an organisation that would set out with good intentions but has lost its way, wheyher its through greed or just that its got too big ,ie more overheads , im not sure.

Frank-the-Wool · Jul 8, 2021

muleman said:
Tbh honest i wouldnt be surprised if the wool board folded before long...they are losing a lot of wool.
Think it was an organisation that would set out with good intentions but has lost its way, wheyher its through greed or just that its got too big ,ie more overheads , im not sure.

I would agree with your sentiments, however if the WB is lost so will the chance for the majority of sheep farmers to get any value for their wool. The last 18 months have been exceptional circumstances and outside of the control of anyone.

The important parts of the WB need to be retained if wool is to ever have a value for the majority of the sheep farmers, these are the grading, packing into saleable lots, testing of the wool and most importantly the auction system.
It does provide an incredible service which will only be missed once it is gone.
There has been little incentive to produce a better product.

On the issue of the BFL the WB pay out the actual pool price for each grade less the marketing costs, so it does depend on all of the auction lots to get the average price.

Northeastfarmer · Jul 8, 2021

Frank-the-Wool said:
I would agree with your sentiments, however if the WB is lost so will the chance for the majority of sheep farmers to get any value for their wool.

Wool has been worth bugger all for as long as I can remember. It’s just classed as a by product now. I can’t ever see it being worth much anymore which is sad. It’s basically a product to keep plenty of other people in work

livestock 1 · Jul 8, 2021

Wool board is far too top heavy

Hilly · Jul 8, 2021

livestock 1 said:
Wool board is far too top heavy

What isn’t today !

Nithsdale · Jul 8, 2021

Northeastfarmer said:
Wool has been worth bugger all for as long as I can remember. It’s just classed as a by product now. I can’t ever see it being worth much anymore which is sad. It’s basically a product to keep plenty of other people in work

If we get rid of the open auctions we will never see wool being worth anything (to us!) regardless what does/doesn't happen in the natural fibre versus synthetics war...

Al R · Jul 8, 2021

Anyone follow Lake District Farming on Instagram?

Nithsdale · Jul 8, 2021

Al R said:
Anyone follow Lake District Farming on Instagram?

The man is a total idiot.
8000kg bale makes £5512. That's 60p a kg

Greythundercloudys · Jul 8, 2021

Wool will never be worth anything again, as simple as that, all those old guys saying it used to pay the rent, that was 50 years ago..

Frank-the-Wool · Jul 8, 2021

Greythundercloudys said:
Wool will never be worth anything again, as simple as that, all those old guys saying it used to pay the rent, that was 50 years ago..

Some wool is still worth a lot of money, you only have to realise the finer types are very valuable now. Best Merino wool is close to £10.00 per kg.
Our Romney wool still covers the costs of shearing and I will be surprised if it isn't significantly more later this year. The reopening of the hospitality sector, Cruise Ships and Casinos will all push up the price.

Synthetic fibre will become increasingly taxed and will be forced to be recycled at a cost. Cotton is one of the hungriest fibres on the planet, needing lots of water and a lot of pesticide sprayed almost weekly.

I believe it will be worth money again even for the lower quality stuff. I had some vaccine delivered recently and it came in a wool lined box with a cool block in it. This wool insulation is being used in many countries now and is of a higher value than house insulation.
You have to remember that wool as a % of the worlds fibre market is less than 2% so a true niche market product.

Bob · Jul 8, 2021

What price did the British Wool pay for Romney Wool last year? Can’t see how it could possibly covered the cost of clipping??

tepapa · Jul 8, 2021

Frank-the-Wool said:
Synthetic fibre will become increasingly taxed and will be forced to be recycled at a cost. Cotton is one of the hungriest fibres on the planet, needing lots of water and a lot of pesticide sprayed almost weekly.

I believe it will be worth money again even for the lower quality stuff

I agree, wool will be worth something again in the future, but it'll be 10 years before it happens and by then WB will be long gone and the Irish will control the job. Even if average wool was £1/kg by then the price of shearing will be £2/ head so a 2kg fleece is only covering shearing cost again so more will be done re shedding to reduce the need for wool.

Mc115reed · Jul 8, 2021

Nithsdale Farmer said:
The man is a total idiot.
8000kg bale makes £5512. That's 60p a kg

Does your calculator not work? Iv checked double checked and triple checked my calculations and 8000 divided by £5512 is £1.45 unless I’m working it out wrong?

ignore me I’m full of sh!t and my calculator is fine just not the person using it….

Highland Mule · Jul 8, 2021

Mc115reed said:
Does your calculator not work? Iv checked double checked and triple checked my calculations and 8000 divided by £5512 is £1.45 unless I’m working it out wrong?

Try it the other way up. 8000kg giving less than £8000 must mean it was less than a pound a kilo.

Mc115reed · Jul 8, 2021

Highland Mule said:
Try it the other way up. 8000kg giving less than £8000 must mean it was less than a pound a kilo.

Hellish good point that yes i was Definatly working it out the wrong way

68p/kg it is

yellowbelly · Jul 8, 2021

Bob said:
What price did the British Wool pay for Romney Wool last year? Can’t see how it could possibly covered the cost of clipping??

https://www.britishwool.org.uk/ksupload/userfiles/Farmer/Producer_Booklet/British%20Wool%20Producer%20Information%20&%20Wool%20Values%20May%202021.pdf

Ewes....... 16-17 p/kg

Hoggs......25-30 p/kg

Frank-the-Wool · Jul 8, 2021

tepapa said:
I agree, wool will be worth something again in the future, but it'll be 10 years before it happens and by then WB will be long gone and the Irish will control the job. Even if average wool was £1/kg by then the price of shearing will be £2/ head so a 2kg fleece is only covering shearing cost again so more will be done re shedding to reduce the need for wool.

Unfortunately it is not the Irish who control it but our very own 2 x scouring plants who have used the "Irish" as a way around the Marketing Act.

These are the very same people who buy out of the Auction and one regularly buys over 50% of the offering at every sale. It is not quite a cartel but is verging on sharp practice and by buying wool direct off farm at a low price helps keep the auction price down especially at the start of the seasonal sales.

Wool...what will you do with yours...

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100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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