4 Wool socks for Ukraine winter Vol 21 No 3, January 30, 2023
$1 return shear hell for wool Neal Wallace
NEWS
I
Wool
NCREASING numbers of farmers are finding it will cost thousands of dollars more to shear their sheep this season than they will earn from wool revenue. The financial equation has worsened this year with valuations for full ewe fleece from $1/kg not uncommon. The sector is being squeezed between a 4.4% increase in shearing costs and a global wool glut after demand from China slowed while the country focused on eliminating covid. Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief economist Andrew Burtt said the average shearing cost per farm this year is estimated at $28,200, up 4.4% on last season. For most farm classes the average revenue from wool sales exceeds the average cost of shearing. The scenario is worse for North Island crossbred farmers, with average wool revenue estimated at $17,100 for 2022-23, while shearing costs for the same period are estimated at $23,200. Andy Caughey, the chief executive of Wool Impact, a collaboration between the government and sheep sector partners under the Sustainable Food & Fibre Futures fund,
acknowledged the difficulties but said there is reason for optimism. “I understand the challenging situation farmers face at the moment and the last thing we want to do is give false hope,” Caughey said. “But the reasons for our optimism are fact-based. “We’ve been in market and seen quantifiable changes that are real and were shown to us by influential people and companies in the marketplace.”
View online at farmersweekly.co.nz
Shed at sharp end of costs squeeze For one Hunterville farmer James Kilmister the input-profit sums just don’t add up.
NEWS 3
Shearers are the meat in the sandwich. Demand for wool is low and that is the pressure point.
Finding a fix when you’re at breaking point
Phil Holden Shearing Contractors Association Caughey said that innovation includes the development of wool acoustic tiles, a global shift to natural products, and pending legislation in Europe and the United Kingdom requiring manufacturers, from 2025, to be responsible for products that have reached the end of their life. That will be especially telling on synthetic products. Caughey said the covid lockdown highlighted for people the
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Fertiliser prices have eased Not much room to off historic highs over the manoeuvre when it comes to on-farm GHG. past year.
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