Prices to be paid to Irish wool producers in 2024 look set to remain similar to those received for the product in recent years.
Irish Grown Wool Council (IGWC) chair, Patrick Byrne, told Agriland that he predicted prices to remain the same “at least until the 2024 shearing season begins”.
He said that there are “major issues” with the standard of wool, which is “seriously undervaluing Irish wool at the moment”.
Wool prices:
- Fine Irish lowland wool- 20c/kg;
- Old season wool- 15c/kg;
- Scotch wool- 5c/kg.
White lowland organic wool would receive premium of 70c/kg, in addition to the normal price paid for 1kg of wool.
With shearing sheep costing farmers an average of €3/sheep, the prices being paid for the wool won’t be coming close to covering shearing costs.
Markets do exist for Irish wool, as Byrne explained that “Irish wool is good strong wool, and our big focus is for carpets, particularly for hard-wearing carpets”.
With hotels and liners a major market for such carpets, Byrne said the interruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic “made a poor market demand for wool even poorer”.
The lack of money in what farmers receive for wool is the cause of the poorer quality of Irish wool being presented for sale, according to the IGWC chair.
“The quality of presentation is something we’re addressing at the council.
“The problem is, when the merchant and the co-ops get it, they have to spend money to decontaminate it,” he added.
Wool can be easily classified as contaminated, as Byrne said if “a black fleece is put in with a bag of white fleeces, and the merchant opens the bag, they’ll say that whole bag is black wool, because it’s so easily contaminated”.
Byrne is urging farmers to avoid contamination of wool, and to be careful to not shear sheep on any vegetative matter and make sure they aren’t being sheared while damp.
Irish grown wool was recently highlighted at the RDS in Dublin during Showcase 2024, which saw artist Karena Ryan of Tuam, Co. Galway and her lamp made from Galway wool nominated for an award.
Ryan said there has been a push in recent years to promote Irish wool from native Irish sheep and that this is a boost for the sustainability movement.
“I think there’s a big push now on promoting Irish grown wool from native Irish sheep which is great for sustainability.
“I was teaching for 20 years as an art teacher so I’m used to repurposing stuff all the time and Galway wool is so robust and strong, you can really manipulate it as a fabric.
“You can do so much with it, that’s the beauty of it,” she added.
British wool prices
British Wool announced it’s first sustained price recovery since the Covid-19 pandemic, with a general rise of 20% across recent auctions.
The organisation has said that sold globally across several different markets and products, demand is growing across the world for British wool.
This has reportedly been helped by the addition of three new buyers of scale at the British Wool auctions.
Graham Clark, director of marketing for British Wool explained: “Over the past few months, we have seen a healthy improvement in both demand and prices at our auctions.
“Generally, prices have increased by 20%, with some of the more sought-after types gaining 15p to 20p/kg.”
British Wool’s grading depots and collection sites remain open, and farmers who have wool on-farm are urged to deliver it by the end of March.