Speaking with the Irish Farmers Journal, John Lynskey, chairman of the IFA Sheep Committee said current prices were hitting rock bottom and were unable to support farmers’ costs.

“As it stands at the moment, prices are on the floor and the cost of shearing for farmers are not covered. How could they be when wool is at 60c/kg?”

Shearing currently costs between €1.80 and €2.50 per head and with the average fleece weighing 2.2kg farmers are struggling to break even.

While the majority of merchants are quoting 60c/kg, there are a few large suppliers quoting up to 65c/kg. Scotch wool is currently trading between 20c/kg and 40c/kg, with the lowest prices being quoted in the west and the highest in the south.

Prices are down an estimated 35c/kg on last year.

The southern hemisphere has also experienced a poor wool season, with crossbred fleece price halving in the last 12 months. However, Marino wool has excelled in Australia, with demand for high-quality wool driving the trade.

Reduced Chinese demand has been the main factor in the reduced wool price.

As reported by Darren Carty, Table 1 details the varying performance of wool sales since 2009 and typical returns from a 60-ewe flock taking a standard wool clip of 2.4kg per ewe and shearing cost of €2.15/ewe (which is low in many cases), with costs ranging from €2/ewe for large numbers to €2.40/kg to €2.50/kg for smaller numbers.

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Full Coverage: Wool prices