Shearing sheep can cost more than the wool is worth so farmers are switching to breeds that shed their own fleeces
No one shears sheep to sell the wool any more, explains James Edwards, a new-entrant tenant farmer with a flock of more than 1,200 ewes. Instead, most people do it for the sheep’s sake, to get the wool off them.
After decades of wool prices that barely cover the cost of shearing, more and more farmers are seeing wool as an optional extra to the meat that brings in the bulk of their income.
A price crash during the pandemic saw farmers getting an average price of just 32p a kilo for wool. In contrast, a lamb currently has a value of about £90-£120.
