UK SHEEP farmers must not underestimate the unique opportunity they have through collective wool marketing, according to Shropshire dairy farmer Roger Evans.

Addressing the British Wool Marketing Board's (BWMB's) annual conference of regional committee representatives in Cardiff, he said wool producers have the opportunity to add value to their product in a way that no other sector in UK agriculture has.

Mr Evans, a former chairman of First Milk and director of Milk Marque, said: "It is adding value that earns profits in every farming sector, whether it’s wool or milk."

But he said they should look at the long-term opportunity of what marketing their wool through the BWMB offers rather than the short-term gain of selling to the highest bidder on the day.

When the Milk Marketing Board was disbanded dairy farmers had the opportunity through Milk Marque to maximise their collective marketing strength.

But, Mr Evans said: "Unfortunately many dairy farmers took the short-term gain of 1p/litre on offer from processors who wanted to break up the collective strength of Milk Marque.

"Those same farmers are now more often than not calling for the Milk Marketing Board to be resurrected!

"You as wool producers already have the infrastructure in place to work successfully together – your representative structure, your quality control and your marketing infrastructure is complete.

"There is no reason at all why you should not operate as a successful co-operative – the world is full of successful co-operatives, it’s not new. You have a golden opportunity to set an example to the rest of UK agriculture to show how large scale cooperation can work.

"Farmers working together employing the best talent to achieve their aims is a formidable combination. You must not underestimate what you can achieve."

Ian Buchanan, BWMB chairman and Northern Irish sheep farmer, had no doubt that BWMB gave wool producers the best opportunity to maximise the value of their wool.

He said: "We have the collective strength in BWMB that no single farmer could ever muster on their own.

"This means we can maximise wool prices by offering significant volumes of quality assured wool to buyers and their customers from across the world, reaching far further than any other wool marketing organisation.

"Add to that the marketing and promotional profile achieved globally through the Campaign for Wool, an organisation spearheaded by BWMB, and you have a winning combination."