The implications of declining sheep numbers in the UK and New Zealand were highlighted at the British Wool Marketing Board's annual conference, in Bradford.
Ian Hartley, chief executive officer, said: "Between 2005 and 2008, both the clip weight and number of producers has reduced by 14 per cent. These figures highlight the problems faced by the board in planning its future operations, when 76 per cent o
f our costs directly relate to the number of depots and their staffing levels."
He said significant changes to the board's depot structure had been made to save costs. Redundancies and non-replacement had saved more than £700,000.
Transport costs had been reduced by using compactors. But "if we want to maintain an adequate level of service, we must have a basic depot and intermediate centre structure", he said.
He said the board was working with a leading bed manufacturer to promote mattresses filled with British wool and B&Q had started selling wool insulation produced by Cumbria-based licensee Second Nature.
Guest speaker Mike Petersen, chairman of Meat and Wool New Zealand, told the conference New Zealand had the same problems. A new Wool Industry Network, owned by the producers, had been launched, to look for new solutions.
The full article contains 217 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
