Unrealistic to ask farmers to wait for wool rise

Waiting three to five years for the cash will be too long for many struggling woolgrowers, says Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre chairman Bruce Wills, commenting on Wool Partners International’s recent roadshow.

Farmers heard from WPI’s US and European marketing managers on efforts to grow demand for strong wools and the direction of international markets reports Rural News.Wills says he “supports the WPI concept and many other farmers left the meetings with more confidence and optimism. But appalling wool prices now are forcing many growers towards deciding to move out,” he says. “Farmers were saying ‘It sounds good, but how long to the money?’ Eyes were rolling at the answer ‘three-five years’. Many can’t wait that long despite their goodwill towards WPI chief executive Iain Abercrombie and his team.“We understand you can’t create a brand overnight but some growers are desperate… three-five years seems half a lifetime. And if prices don’t pick up soon, when WPI says ‘Now where’s your wool?’ they’ll hear only… silence.”

Abercrombie was upbeat about farmer numbers attending the meetings, “except for the first two meetings at Rotorua (20-30 a farmer told Rural News) and Gisborne (25-30). Since those venues we’ve been sold-out – standing room only”. “We pushed to growers the need for demand creation, then it was under-the-bonnet stuff… ‘This is what we need to be doing….’ “Wools of NZ is powerful but now we’re looking for a 1+1=3 leap which is about wool supply. And farmers must ask ‘Are we selling to someone with capability in the marketplace?’ ”