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

muleman

Member
I think people sending wool to other companies has already sharpened the wool board up, i see they have done away with, or agreed to stand the haulage charges themselves.
That charge was one of the main things that was making them uncompetitive for a lot of farther away farms.
If the wool board price does improve again it will be partly due to the fact theyve been forced to get there act together.
 

Moors Lad

Member
Location
N Yorks
Bloody Jesus I've never spent that much on anyone, ever!!
Aye, Yorkshire men are tight but I had heard that there`s somewhere north of here where it`s an art form.. :ROFLMAO:
Don`t you be frettin` - we`ve not got a lot of `em and Swale wool isn`t exactly valuable.... The Peppa pig man 🐷 won`t be coming to me for a loan to pay for his decorating job at no. 10...🐷
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I think people sending wool to other companies has already sharpened the wool board up, i see they have done away with, or agreed to stand the haulage charges themselves.
That charge was one of the main things that was making them uncompetitive for a lot of farther away farms.
If the wool board price does improve again it will be partly due to the fact theyve been forced to get there act together.

That means that those of us that deliver it in ourselves are effectively subsidising the transport of those further out. That was never popular when the dairies tried it, and I can't see it will be with wool.
 

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
I think people sending wool to other companies has already sharpened the wool board up, i see they have done away with, or agreed to stand the haulage charges themselves.
That charge was one of the main things that was making them uncompetitive for a lot of farther away farms.
If the wool board price does improve again it will be partly due to the fact theyve been forced to get there act together.

Just to remind you that BW does not influence the price as it is sold at public auction and the value of the wool by grade in that marketing year is returned to the producer less the marketing costs. The only influence BW have on the return to the farmer is to keep the costs as low as possible.

It is true that costs have been saved by closing depots and reducing staff numbers which has been accelerated due to the effects of the collapse in the market due to C19. Unfortunately BW costs are directly related to the volume of wool that it takes in. The more it handles the lower the costs.

It is unfortunate that the haulage charges are being picked up by everyone as @neilo says those of us who deliver it ourselves are subsiding the costs. However as BW is effectively a Co-op we should perhaps accept it as it is "our" business and many of the critics may have missed the fact that the Board Members are mostly farmers and were elected by you the wool producers.
 

muleman

Member
That means that those of us that deliver it in ourselves are effectively subsidising the transport of those further out. That was never popular when the dairies tried it, and I can't see it will be with wool.
Well its the wool board you need to take that up with, not us.
 
Other than going to Irish merchants,has anyone come up with a better business model for the wool board to follow? If there's a better way let's hear it and then they could be pressured to change.
 
They don"t work on a percentage figure - it all depends on the auction price of wool.
When it's low they take out all their costs first and give us what's left (if any) - hence a lot only got 5p/kg last year. So, for last year, probably 99% :facepalm:
That’s a load of shite. Ought to be a percentage like an auction. Everyone takes the hit when it’s bad. Everyone’s in the honey when it’s good. That’s how to reform it.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
That’s a load of shite. Ought to be a percentage like an auction. Everyone takes the hit when it’s bad. Everyone’s in the honey when it’s good. That’s how to reform it.

So I have to take a bigger hit because my wool is more valuable than coarse hill breed wool, even though the handling costs are going to be similar? :scratchhead:

We’re all already taking a hit when it’s bad, and I suspect the reduction in my wool cheque is more than it would be if I’d always been producing low value wool.
 

Frank-the-Wool

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
That’s a load of shite. Ought to be a percentage like an auction. Everyone takes the hit when it’s bad. Everyone’s in the honey when it’s good. That’s how to reform it.

It is an interesting suggestion but I will try to explain why it is different from a livestock market or any other auction that only sells a product direct from a vendor and cannot have a fixed percentage.

Wool comes does not come to be sold from a farm or wool producer in a fixed format. It has to be graded first to guarantee what the type is, so there is immediately an additional cost.
Secondly it has to be packed into a 350kg bale of the same wool type and will be core tested (a scientific analysis) to ascertain the quality of every 350kg bale in what will be a 27 tonne auction lot. This auction lot depending on what it is may come from 10 to a 1,000 farmers.
Less than 10 farmers in the whole of the British Isles have enough wool of a single grade to make an auction lot.
The wool may have to be stored for over 12 months as the first new season wool auction is in late June or early July and the last the following May. There is a cost to storage.

Therefore BW have to deduct the costs of grading, testing, storage, auction costs and transport off the price. The fixed costs are diluted by the more wool that is handled.

If you sell a lamb it is easy for the auction company to take a fixed commission as they don't have any other costs than running the market and taking the credit risk.
Credit risk is one thing that BW do not have to worry about as no wool is released unless fully paid for!!
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.2%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.8%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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