CUMBRIAN sheep farmers wool cheques are seeing a massive hit because of market disruption caused by the pandemic.

At an online meeting, organised by The Farmer Network, based at Penrith, the county’s farmers heard that the average wool cheque prices for 2019/20 would be halved.

With the global cross-bred wool market having been closed since the beginning of March after slowing significantly in February, British Wool has circa 7m kg extra of unsold 2019 clip wool on top of the circa 3m kg that would normally be carried over at this time.

Gareth Jones, Producer Marketing Manager from British Wool, told farmers that the balance for the 2019 clip will be paid upon receipt as normal, but no advance will be paid on the 2020 clip. Full payment will be made for this from May 2021, once British Wool can better assess the market situation and pay an appropriate price based on market performance.

Gareth told the group that although the prices are disappointing, British Wool are still accepting all types of wool and urged farmers to send their wool as normal rather than disposing of it in other ways.

He explained that British Wool are working very closely with the Chinese market and opened an office there in 2018. The demand for a premium market has risen in demand and they have recently launched a premium bedding range with a brand called Lovo. The demand for clothing has risen in recent years and British Wool are working with two Universities exploring options for new clothing ranges as well as face masks, etc. These are the consumers of the future, working with environmentally sustainable products.

Twenty-five percent of the annual wool clip is sold to China and the wool trade saw the effects of Covid-19 well before lockdown as China stopped buying, Gareth told the meeting. Although China has now been out of lockdown for a couple of months, the market remains quiet and many companies have changed their operating practices and are now making PPE equipment, rather than their usual goods. Take that into account along with the type of products British Wool goes into, mainly carpets both domestic and commercial for airports and hotels, and it’s not hard to see why the price has dropped while the economy has been at a standstill. British Wool have been operating remote auctions to try and keep the market moving as much as they can.

Sheep farmer and National Farmers Union Cumbrian council delegate, Alistair Mackintosh told The Cumberland News that to clip his 450-strong flock cost him £2,300, but his wool cheque was net £450. "It is absolutely unbelievable. Mine were Mule sheep, fell sheep fleeces will be worthless. It will be a challenge to convince farmers to spend money to take wool off and give it to British Wool."

He added: "We need to encourage people to buy wool garments and make sure British wool is in their carpets. All these new houses being built should be carpeted with British wool."

The meeting was told large wool producing nations as such as Australia and New Zealand are experiencing the same problems. The average British wool price for the 2019 clip is 32p/kg, the price farmers receive will vary dependent on the type of wool they produce. Some mountain wools may only achieve 15p/kg while some of the finer white wools could expect more than 70p/kg. Current prices are in line with the 2008 financial crash.

Although British Wool are encouraging farmers to send their 2020 clip as normal, some farmers may choose not to do this, the meeting was told, but if the wool can be stored in clean, dry conditions, this could be done with a view to sending the wool in next year instead.

There is no way of predicting how the market will be performing in 2021, so this would be a decision for the farmer to make, farmers were told.