Wool

[Tim W]

NSA statement on British Wool prices | News | National Sheep Association

NSA statement on British Wool prices, news from the National Sheep Association

www.nationalsheep.org.uk

 

[hally]

Heard a good expression yesterday that sums up the wool price.......four fifths of f**k all???

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

There are several composite breeds in NZ under development heading in that direction, largely based on Romney or Perendale, some Texel and another breed for finer wool, such as Corriedale or Ile de France. There are finer Romney types around now, a result of utilising natural variation within the breed. The Snowliner (@Kiwi Pete uses these rams) have fleeces 26 - 30 microns. The trend for finer wool in Romneys and Romney derivatives has a negative effect on wool weight, which is probably attractive to UK farmers. But the UK desire for "tight skins" would probably wreck all colour premiums.

The main mid micron breeds in NZ are Corriedales anf Halfbreds (Merino x Romney, or Lincoln or English Liecester).

Farming Merinos:
As a breed they are different to all others in grazing habit (more browsers than grazers), mob up easily, worm prone, soft feet (although genotyping for Footrot has made a considerable difference to some lines), hate grazing pressure and ryegrass. Low yielding wool (about 62 - 68% as the rest is suint.....grease) attracts flies and bacterial stain in higher rainfall regions where fleeces remain wet for longer periods. I believe they would not be successful as a pure breed anywhere in the UK, but some Merino genes, via Corriedale as an example, could be introduced into some flocks to produce a useful composite. This would require a lot of selection pressure.

After WW2 there were a lot of Romneys crossed with a Southdown to produce a lustrous and relatively fine, around 28 micron fleece which made good hand knitting wool. These fleeces were surprisingly heavy as well.
We used to keep a lot of these until they were two year olds as they were massively fat and the wool and the meat value was about the same price. In fact until around 1963 our income from wool and meat was 50/50.

 

[Farmer_Joe]

I READ IT, THEY ESTIMATE 50% LESS THAN LAST YEAR, ops caps,

last year was an insult so to be fair i think i will hoard it for better times
#

 

[Nithsdale]

Could be upto 50% less. They didn't say it will be 50% less.

 

[Tubbylew]

Just pondering today whilst pugging worthless wool of nearly worthless sheep, could you get the lanolin out of it somehow? Hows it done or is it like sorting fly sh!t from pepper?

 

[MRT]

medulation (hairy britch).

If you are in polite company and want to know what this means, do not copy and paste in the search bar as I just did!

 

[Green farmer]

I READ IT, THEY ESTIMATE 50% LESS THAN LAST YEAR, ops caps,

last year was an insult so to be fair i think i will hoard it for better times
#

I hoarded 3 years worth of wool when it dropped below €1 a few years back, but luckily sold it for 50cent a kilo this spring. Looks like I'll be back hoarding it again for the next 3 years. Not much more downside left on it at 10cent a kilo, is there ??? I can always throw it into a compost heap if they ever try and charge for disposing of it?

 

[spin cycle]

i googled fert value of wool...9-1-2 + micronutrients........so 3t wool equates to 1t of 25/5/5 roughly.....so if that fert is £210t......then wool is worth 7pkg as fert

 

[Bury the Trash]

Organic farmers use shoddy dont they?


Mind you a full fleece would fair wind up on a rotaspreader rotor ?

 

[Bones]

Hmmm,

Sheep farmers express shear joy over injection that triggers fleece to fall off

The clicking of shears is to give way to the silent plunge of a syringe

www.irishtimes.com

I had to check the date wasn't April 1st when I got to the bit about fitting them with a net to catch the wool

It's 2001, so I guess it's not been a success

didn't think you could use it in this country, good idea all the same, The company that made it went bankrupted way back , but must be going again , fu#k the net , I've 9 acres of Heather to drop it on.

 

[scottish-lleyn]

A customer asked me today if shearing was going to be cheaper this year as he was going to struggle to gwt rid of it. I offered to take the wool after shearing it and charge him 5p less per sheep. And he accepted straight away. Im now worried that ive been done.?

 

[neilo]

If you are in polite company and want to know what this means, do not copy and paste in the search bar as I just did!

you do realise we will all have to now.....

 

[Agrivator]

What was the antibiotic which was almost certain to result in the ewe casting her fleece a few weeks later? Streptomycin??

 

[Woolless]

What was the antibiotic which was almost certain to result in the ewe casting her fleece a few weeks later? Streptomycin??

More likely to be the result of the infection which the antibiotic was treating.

 

[Hesstondriver]

my two peneth here , from just reading this thread out of interest:

1) oil price , oil price has crashed (corvid related i know) but in a global supply chain has it widened the gap between the cost of using wool vs man made fibers ? so is the global price of wool in anyway linked to oil price / supply - demand ?

2) for any one storing wool until next year (and i can fully see why even if it just halves your haulage cost) yes it may reduce the supply to the WMB but as i understand it they are potentially marketing it globally or at least global prices. From google there are 187 million sheep in china , 75 million in aus and 30 million in NZ, our 22 million in uk. IT doesn't put us in the best marketing position, even without taking in to account of wool quality and shedders. Would we as an industry be punishing the WMB for something that is out of their control ?

HD

 

[tepapa]

I think the problem for farmers is that the wool board receives wool, grades, stores and sells wool and covers all its costs first giving what's left back to the producer. The producer doesn't even come close to covering the harvesting costs let alone any other costs associated with wool production. So yet again the producer is at the bottom on the pile.

 

[hendrebc]

I think the problem for farmers is that the wool board receives wool, grades, stores and sells wool and covers all its costs first giving what's left back to the producer. The producer doesn't even come close to covering the harvesting costs let alone any other costs associated with wool production. So yet again the producer is at the bottom on the pile.

How do they do it in other countries? I'm sure someone told me in Australia or NZ or somewhere the wool handlers graded the wool as they went and put it in separate piles to he baled together later. Having to empty all those woolsacks and separate all the wool into grades must cost the wool board a fortune?

 

[tepapa]

How do they do it in other countries? I'm sure someone told me in Australia or NZ or somewhere the wool handlers graded the wool as they went and put it in separate piles to he baled together later. Having to empty all those woolsacks and separate all the wool into grades must cost the wool board a fortune?

The wool on farm is a lot more consistent in NZ/Oz. Could be 3/4000+ ewes all bred the same for same wool type, micron, cutting 3-5kgs each and all of a sudden you have one wool type in sufficient quantity with the bits and pieces, fribs, stained and short wool all removed at shearing and baled to create a saleable quantity ready for the wool auction.

The best of the Merino wool will be graded, in the shearing shed, by a classer who will pull the better parts of the fleece out with a higher demand/value before it is baled.

 

[tepapa]

The wool on farm is a lot more consistent in NZ/Oz. Could be 3/4000+ ewes all bred the same for same wool type, micron, cutting 3-5kgs each and all of a sudden you have one wool type in sufficient quantity with the bits and pieces, fribs, stained and short wool all removed at shearing and baled to create a saleable quantity ready for the wool auction.

The best of the Merino wool will be graded, in the shearing shed, by a classer who will pull the better parts of the fleece out with a higher demand/value before it is baled.

Compare that to an average UK flock of what? Maybe 150-350 ewes? Made up of 5? different breeds of different ages, wool types, colours all mixed up in the same bag and probably covered in straw before shearing ?.