A full season's worth of wool, some 1000 fleeces, going up in smoke as a farmer burns them.
Once they would of paid the rent of the farm for the year, but now as a commodity they are virtually worthless, only bringing in a few pence per fleece, whilst costing the farmer up to £1.50/sheep to shear.
There are a number of issues around the price of fleeces being so low, mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A number of innovative ideas for the natural fibre are in the pipeline, such as house insulation, but the costs are prohibitive, despite the raw material being so cheap.
Many shepherds wonder why this is as they are either forced to burn their commodity, or send it to the British Wool Board, which holds a monopoly over the wool trade in the UK – and many farmers don't see it as doing its job properly when fleeces have so little value.
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