The Farmers’ Union of Wales has written to Economy Minister, Ken Skates, following the news that British Wool (the new name for the British Wool Marketing Board) has been denied support through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CIBLs).
The pandemic has led to a significant drop in demand for wool as the global market for crossbred wool has been shut since February this year. The busiest selling period for GB and Welsh wool is between February and May each year and the impact of the pandemic on wool sales has therefore been particularly acute.
In its letter, the FUW highlighted the impact that the closure of wool markets would have on the price received by sheep farmers for their wool and highlighted that sheep producers must still pay for this year's shearing costs.
The closure of normal wool markets has left BW with around one third of their wool stock unsold and this has had a direct impact on sheep producer incomes. This unsold stock not only detrimentally affects calculated wool values which are payable for the 2019-20 balance but also means that BW is unable to pay an advance for this season’s wool.
Despite funding being made available to other wool purchasers, BW has failed to qualify for support as it has been classified as a public sector body.
Yet BW is wholly independent and self-funding and operates within a competitive market place. Given the above, FUW believes that BW should have fully qualified for support under the CBIL scheme or some other variation of covid-19 support for businesses.
Given the impact upon both the sector and upon primary producers, we have made our views clear in a meeting with Secretary of State George Eustice and letters to Ministers.