The British Wool Board tells us that they are supporting their members, but there are 40,000 sheep farmers supplying them with wool and most of them would disagree.

At the quality end there is wool that finds a ready market but the vast majority of wool producers are delivering very mixed quality and this year have experienced a price drop when agricultural inflation is around 25%.

We have just experienced a massive hike in energy prices and It seems to be universally agreed that the insulation in many of our buildings is substandard, so why are we not able to take a natural product which is also  fire retardant, and widely acknowledged as suitable at around 75% inclusion reducing the wool stocks and enabling farmers to get paid a price that makes it worthwhile shearing their sheep.

We are seeing a trend towards ewes like the Easycare (self-shedding) that leaves the terminal sire with a lot of work to do as the carcass quality is poor.

It is an ideal opportunity for the Wool Board, The NFU and DEFRA to get together with the government and find a way to help the sheep industry and benefit many hundreds of home-owners at a time when they could do with a boost.