Retiring BWMB member explains the board’s role
Cumbria, UK-based farmer Robin Raine has retired as English Northern member of the British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB) after nine years.
Mr Raine initially served on the Regional Committee of the BWMB and was elected as English Northern member in 1999. He also served as vice chairman of the board from 2003-2007.
"My aim has always been to improve the returns for sheep producers and to work to drive the board forward in all its many roles as the main marketing arm for British wool,” he said. “But these have been very difficult times.
"Foot and mouth had a big impact on the amount of wool handled by the board and the reducing UK ewe flock—as well as the lower prices being paid for wool worldwide—has made cost-cutting and restructuring essential. I know that sheep producers are frustrated by the low prices of wool but we've seen what's happened to milk and I firmly believe that a UK sheep sector without a Wool Marketing Board would be unthinkable," said Mr Raine.
He also explained how the board operates. "The board acts as a clearing house for wool and aims to sell it for the best possible price on behalf of sheep farmers. The board is not a woo-buying business; its role is to work on behalf of farmers as a selling agent," he said. He claims that when sheep producers sell wool to export buyers they are “undermining the board's role within the sheep sector. “The exporters would never replace the board and buy the entire UK clip,” he says. “They are in business working purely to make a profit for themselves."
He added: "Anyone who takes the time to visit the board's headquarters and to become more aware of what happens to their wool once it leaves the farm acknowledges that producers would be much worse off without an effective marketing organisation to handle its wool - not to mention the many other marketing and promotional roles undertaken by the board and its reputation for shearing training."
