Recent weeks have seen the UK Wool Board confirm a 20% increase in the prices paid at its monthly auctions.
This trend will, almost certainly, be reflected back in the wool prices paid to UK sheep farmers.
So let’s hope that Irish wool merchants start taking the same approach now and over the coming months.
Wool, after all, is an internationally-traded commodity. And, by all accounts, the rise in wool prices is very likely to be sustained into the future.
Wool trade
Back in the Middle Ages – and right up to Victorian times – wool merchants were among the wealthiest people in Europe. It is not by coincidence that the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords in the UK sits on a woolsack.
This symbolised the central nature and great importance of the wool trade to the economy of Europe in the 14th century.
Very few people – including sheep farmers – are likely to make vast fortunes from this particular natural fibre today. However, there are signs that the unique properties of this wholly natural fabric are, once again, coming into vogue.
The demand for woollen carpets and garments continues to grow, all of which is tremendous news for local flock owners.
And in a world where the need to effectively recycle materials becomes a growing priority, wool stands out as a fibre that meets all of these demands.
Income for sheep farmers
Meanwhile, sheep farmers need to secure every source of income that is available to them. And wool must be included within this list.
It is not good enough for prices to simply cover the costs of shearing and no more.
Farmers must be convinced of the real value inherent within wool. For too long, many flock owners have seen only the ‘nuisance value’ associated with it.
And this was as a direct consequence of the poor market prices that had been available to them for so many years.
But the good news is that markets can turn around in a very meaningful way within a very short space of time. Take butter as a case in point.
For years this remarkable dairy spread languished as a base commodity in countries around the world.
However, this all changed when a small number of well-known chefs started to extol the virtues of butter, from both a cookery and a general consumption perspective.
So, who knows? Perhaps wool’s ‘Eureka’ moment is just around the corner.