Woolly thinking to boost sector

Sometimes, we as farmers can be overly guilty of indulging in nostalgia. I along with many sheep farmers lament the current price of wool. It may very well have “once have paid the annual farm rent” but times have changed.

No longer do we wear clothes manufactured from woollen cloth. Simply put, wool currently has a very limited market.

It was a very different story a few hundred years ago when the wool trade was so important that it formed the backbone of the British economy.

Exports from Britain allowed great industry to spread throughout northern Europe.

Taxes and income from wool were so important that key members of the House of Lords sat on wool sacks when the House met, a tradition that carries on to this day.

Never mind the annual farm rent, think of the great abbeys of the Scottish Borders. It was the wool cheque which allowed the Cistercian Monks to build such impressive structures.

In more recent years I am grateful if wool makes a reasonable contribution towards the cost of shearing.

This year I am being told that it is almost worthless, meaning I am incurring another cost in a system already suffering from the tightest of margins.

The global market has been hit hard by recent events. I think we can all understand that.

What little industry that still relies on wool has all but come to a standstill and as such the British Wool Marketing Board has been left with a surplus of wool from last year.

We can be critical of the board’s lack of imagination over recent years but let us not forget that this is a co-operative owned by us, the farmers.

Perhaps part of the problem is the fact that we have been happy to sit back and accept a cheque for our wool no matter what the price. And perhaps it is time to push for change.

Traditional markets are not the way forward. Now is the time to innovate – we all know sustainability is big business and what could be more sustainable than wool?

This sector surely opens a huge range of marketing options which could be explored.

Wool is a natural product that could potentially have so many uses.

It is high in nitrogen – think fertilisers with the added benefits of being slug repellant.

It is a great insulator and fire retardant – think industrial and domestic insulation.

Walk down any high street in winter and note the insatiable market for performance/insulated outerwear such as gilets and puffer jackets – none of which currently utilise wool.

In recent months I have lost count of the home shopping parcels arriving at my house – think of all the waste associated with protecting and packing all these courier deliveries. Wouldn’t wool make an ideal substitute?

Of course I am being simplistic in my ideas for future marketing, but I am not paid the six-figure salaries of some employees within the board. These people should be worried.

I understand attracting talent and skills at an executive level comes at a price, but questions need to be asked of how effective these people are.

I accept the wool cheque will never pay the rent, but surely it is not unreasonable to expect a small return.

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Traditional markets are not the way forward. Now is the time to innovate, we know sustainability is big business

What little industry that still relies on wool has all but come to a standstill.