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Curt the Sheep - the mascot for the 'Wool to the Olympics' campaign
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Members of the public heading for this year’s Northumberland County Show could help get local hill sheep to the 2012 Olympic Games.
Not ‘in person’ perhaps - but as part of a national campaign to revive the fortunes and popularity of British wool, North East sheep farmers are now launching their own drive to get wool to the Games.
As a result, the North East NFU will be launching a public petition on its stand at the Show highlighting the green credentials of wool and calling on the Olympic organisers to make sure the Games provide a showcase for what was once Britain’s largest export.
Such is the determination to beat off stiff competition from the manufacturers of synthetic alternatives, that a special range of carpets has now been designed especially for the Olympics to help get across the story of a unique product.
The brainchild of Yorkshire wool merchant Martin Curtis, the carpets are made from undyed wool and so celebrate the diversity of sheep breeds to be found across the UK. By sticking to the natural colour range of the wool, the aim is to make a feature of the darker fleeces that come predominantly from hill breeds and traditionally have been worth less than paler lowland fleeces that can be readily dyed.
This approach has struck a real chord with North East sheep producers, who have seen wool prices at rock bottom for many years.
“Wool has been in the doldrums for too long, with the result that farmgate prices have not even covered the cost of clipping,” said NFU livestock board member and Northern representative for the British Wool Marketing Board, Malcolm Corbett.
“We have seen a serious decline in the size of the national wool clip – down from more than 50 million kilos a decade ago to less than 30 million now – and while that is driving a long-overdue increase in prices, this is a trend we must turn around if we are to achieve a sustainable sheep sector for the future.
“In January this year we saw the launch of a five-year initiative, launched by Prince Charles, that brings together not just British wool producers but those from all the main wool producing nations to work with manufacturers and retailers such as Marks and Spencer to make wool fashionable again.
“The drive to get wool into the Olympics is an important part of this bigger Campaign for Wool, but is especially appealing to sheep farmers because it seeks to highlight the contribution made by more than 60,000 farming families around the country and the ‘tapestry’ of sheep breeds they keep.”
Morpeth sheep farmer and chairman of the NFU regional livestock board, Hans Pörksen added: “The North East is a major sheep producing region. With 4 million animals grazing our local countryside, we have more sheep here than anywhere else in England. Anything that helps secure the livelihood of our sheep farmers is welcome and this is a particularly innovative approach.
“Wool has a great story to tell – not least its green credentials, its unique natural properties and its versatility and I’m sure the public will be right behind us in our drive to make the Olympics a showcase for that.
“I very much hope to meet members of the public on the NFU stand, which very aptly this year is right opposite the sheep show. It would be really good to get a strong show of support.”
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