Wool: Looking on the bright side of life

The price of wool is again not covering the cost of shearing.

Whistle while you work is an old adage many sheep farmers may be clinging to as poor prices continue to dog the market.

Independent livestock commentator David Cotton was doing just that quietly in his head as he joined the shearers for a pre-Christmas clean-up.

"Do you ever get a song in your head that goes around and around? I spent the weekend with the shearers shearing the ewes and I kept singing to myself Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.

"As I dragged another 75kg ewe out to dag it before it was shorn I thought just how lucky I was to have a weekly paid job that allowed me to work for a loss over the weekend - the wool cheque was not going to cover the costs of shearing the ewes," Mr Cotton said.

"Clients have reported receiving over $2/kg less for their wool this spring, but always looking on the bright side of life, the spring rains have kept the grass growing and the cattle store market continues to punch well above its weight with prime prices holding on longer than expected.

"The store lamb market is actually averaging 10 cents kg more than last year and interest rates are low - life is good isn't it?" he quipped.

While the grass is growing the lack of sun in recent weeks has meant a slow start to the lamb killing season.

"The grass has not had the grunt to get the lambs up to killing weight which has kept pressure on the meat companies for numbers and in turn keeping the lambs schedule higher than anticipated a month ago. This will not last as we head into Christmas with a number of short week kills. The lamb schedule will drop which is making store lamb buyers nervous."

The lack of prime lambs to kill has meant cull ewes have been able to be killed in large numbers before Christmas rather than hanging around the farm until February-March which has happened in recent years.

"It's always interesting to note though, that increased costs affect profitability down on the farm. Horizon and district council rates, freight costs, drenches, fertiliser and many other items continue to increase, while farm gate prices fluctuate wildly.

"But again, looking at the bright side of life it's great to know that all those that benefit from the production down on the farm are getting paid. The carriers, fat stock buyers, stock agents, meat company employees, banks and service industries just to name a few are keeping national employment levels at under 5 per cent.

"But I'm reminded of another saying 'Don't Kill the Goose that Lays the Golden Egg'," he warned.

To end on a real bright note though, Mr Cotton looked at dairying.

"The dairy payout has not only been positive for dairy farmers, but sheep and beef farmers were also given the opportunity to supply supplementary feed and offer dairy grazing once again to help cashflows."