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This piece might at first appear to have nothing in it for you unless you are a sheep farmer but hang on in there – we are all in this together – producers and end users and that’s the point of this piece.

A few days ago Jane Deane and I had a meeting with a Wool Board official who happened to be in the south west on other business and agreed to meet us. It was arranged through CCANW as a direct spin off from the Wool Forums they had arranged. This first meeting (there will be more) was kept deliberately small and very brief to ensure that we could get to the nub of the problems we all had as fast as possible.

I was there as a wool producer and user and Jane was there representing the users but with a great deal of insight into production through her association with me and some of her own local farmers. Neither of us are experts in the workings of the Wool Board and neither of us are members.  We were just trying to establish what potential there was to work with the Board to increase availability of quality British fleeces for hand spinning (by general consent the fleeces the WB select to send out to spinners currently are terrible!)  and also see what else we as a textile community could do to aid wool producers to get more for their fleeces.

Once we had all agreed that we were not there to “bash the Wool Board” but to try to establish why things seem so bad if you are a producer and difficult if you are a user, we made progress. Much was made of the increase in the price for wool this year but as any farmer will tell you (and the WMB to be fair) that’s because the number of sheep has plummeted and wool is therefore scarce on the world market. It’s good this year but may be terrible next. Wool production in the UK has declined dramatically to 27million kg last year from 44million in the 1990′s. (I think I’m remembering those figures correctly!) Similar declines have been experienced everywhere except in China where wool production has increased. Since China is one of the UK’s biggext export customers that is in itself bad news. If China becomes self-sufficient  where will we sell to then?

That brought us neatly onto a discussion of the role of the Board in finding and creating new markets for wool. Although we in the textile crafts world are small we are able and willing to pay good prices for high quality wools. Surely we could work together more? This particular official said that this was not something the Board do. It was not in their remit. They would happily help anyone who came to them with an idea for using British wool  BUT it was not their job to go out and look for those new ideas and markets.

I was somewhat dumbstruck by this since the title of the organisation is The British Wool MARKETING Board but it appears that when it was set up by act of parliament in 1950 (and not changed since) it was specifically charged with selling wool at the best possible price for all farmers. The chosen way of doing that has been to act as middle men – not as marketing men. The WMB take in and grades all wool  and then sells it to wool merchants at regular auctions in Bradford. That’s it. Job done. Getting involved in The Campaign for Wool has been a step up for them. Producing the British Wool logo system (not Wool Mark which is Australian and nothing to do with British Wool) but the little blue background with a shepherds crook and a Union Jack on it is again, not really in their main remit but they have done it anyway. (Isn’t that gruesome and old fashioned by the way?)

Time for a more modern look perhaps?

My immediate comment was that  if this was the case and farmers are clearly frustrated and unhappy with things (and I know for a fact that some in the Wool Board are also very unhappy) why doesn’t it change? The answer is that it has to be changed from the bottom up. It’s a Co op so members get elected to Regional Committees and they must drive the change.

 Look at your Regional Committees those of you who are farmer members. What is going to change? Most farmers who keep sheep have very little interest in wool. They are busy making a living from meat. They grumble like mad about the wool cheque BUT they are busy men and are not going to bother to sit for hours on frustrating committees which do little to change things. The committees are filled with the semi retired or those with time on their hands for some other reason. There might be the odd exception but by and large, that’s the case. I say again, unless those farmers who are moaning put themselves out to sit on these regional groups nothing will change so its a case of put up and shut up if you can’t be bothered to get onto a committee. Harsh but true!

What is the alternative? I don’t think there is one under the current system. The round of  government quango cuts announced yesterday specifically exluded the WMB which has escaped even the reforms which have been imposed on other bodies. So, if you use it you are stuck with it and must change it from within. I would not for ONE MINUTE advocate working outside it if you can avoid doing so because the intial aims are laudable – to provide a market for  carpet grade wool (70% of the British clip goes for carpets) produced by farmers who care little for wool production and that needs to remain in place if our hills are to contain sheep and the people who work with them.

However, I do wonder if its time there was an independent Association of Wool Growers in the UK. Looking at the Australian models which I have been doing since getting involved with them for the Camapign for Wool, there is much to be gained by forming a pressure group of people solely concerned with quality wool production. There ARE such people in the UK and not just niche producers like me. I have recently spoken to a 3000 sheep farmer with Dorset wool of a very high quality who is totally fed up with the WB and its inflexibility. I am not here talking about people with 2-10 pet sheep but those with a minimum flock size, serious farmers with a commitment to quality wool. I don’t know – am I misreading things here or is this a good time for some sort of independent pressure group? As far as I see it the aims would be yes to put a bit of pressure on the Board where possible (but this looks like a dead duck from where I’m standing) but, more importantly, to go out there, search for and research new markets and if necessary work with the board to get those markets supplied with the right wool for the job. This could be anything from tiny amounts of coloured Wensleydale for an individual craft worker to huge quantities of Dorset wool for coffins, burial shrouds etc.

What do you all think?