New Zealand falls out of love with sheep farming as lucrative pine forests spread
New Zealand falls out of love with sheep farming as lucrative pine forests spread
www.theguardian.com
New Zealand falls out of love with sheep farming as lucrative pine forests spread
Sheep numbers in sharp decline as farmers increasingly shift to forestry, fuelled by demand to earn carbon credits
The problem is simply that the price of wool is so low, most farms cannot break even keeping sheep for wool. They are shifting away from wool in general, not just because of pine forestry.
Sheep farmers burn fleeces as wool prices slump
Tuesday June 27 2023, 12.01am BST, The Times
Sheep farmers are burning fleeces because it is too expensive to bring them to market, it has emerged, with Scottish ministers urged to live up to their green agenda and help reinvent the market.
Wool prices have been low since the 1990s, when the product traded at about £3 per kg, but during the past four years returns have reached crisis point for many producers.
An average price of £0.89 per kg at auction in 2019 fell to a total average return to producers of only £0.33 per kg, a drop exacerbated by the pandemic, which closed UK and international markets.
But campaigners say fleeces are versatile and could be repurposed, for example for house insulation, helping to play a role in Scottish ministers’ net-zero ambitions.
This is a real shame. Wool is a fantastic material.
Then why are wool products so expensive to the consumer?
Tragic. Why aren't making low-cost wool clothing etc.?