He said: "We are delighted to be working with NSA to travel around the UK, meeting sheep farmers and helping them understand how British Wool are working to maximise the value of their
wool clip." NSA activities and campaigns manager Chris Adamson said markets were not just commercial centres but vital parts of the "social fabric".
Producers can enter two fleeces which must be packaged separately to the rest of the
wool clip and accompanied by a completed entry form.
Adult sheep have an average body weight of 101-118 kg and
wool clip of 8.0-11.6 kg in the original or 5.0-7.3 kg in pure fiber; ewes have an average body weight of 55-65 kg and
wool clip of 3.5-4.6 kg in the original, and fertility per hundred ewes is 115-125% [11].
"I urge sheep farmers to continue to support BWMB in the years ahead to help it remain competitive and to maximise the value of their own
wool clip.
The company traditionally sources its much sought after lamb's wool in the Geelong area of Victoria in Australia, purchasing the majority of the available lamb's
wool clip annually.
Wool prices at auction have increased substantially since October 2009, and the result is that the 2010
Wool Clip Value is double that of 2009 and three times that of 2008.
At the start of 2009 the Wool Board's operating costs were around 50% of the total
wool clip value, and while it has done a lot to reduce haulage tonnages, through the use of compacting machines, a lot more can be done.
Today, Australia is the world's biggest producer of wool, supplying a quarter of the global
wool clipTally up the shearing cost plus labor and subtract that from the income on a
wool clip, and simple arithmetic will show that many sheep producers today are barely breaking even on their wool operation.
It supplies yarn to all Brintons factories except those in Australia and uses 18 per cent of the British
wool clip.
China takes around a quarter of the British
wool clip. Half stays at home, while 10%-15% heads to mainland Europe.