Wool prices hit by strong pound
6 September 2000
Wool prices hit by strong pound
By FWi staff
WOOL prices are so low that a Shropshire farmer has calculated that he must shear two sheep to earn enough money to buy a packet of crisps.
Simon Latter farms 400 cross-breed mules close to the Welsh border and on the basis of this years clip expects a profit of 15p for each ewe shorn — half the price of crisps.
Mr Latter blames depressed prices on the strength of the pound and the weakness of the euro which has hit exports to carpet manufacturers on the Continent.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Farming Today programme that margins were so poor that clipping was being done primarily for welfare purposes,
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