Providing a High Level of Service To All Members

Ulster Wool Network

Ulster Wool has a comprehensive nationwide network of depots and drop off points, making it easy for producers to send their wool to us.

Including our Muckamore Grading Depot there are 26 locations within Northern Ireland for our members to take their wool to.

Billy Hewitson Head of Operations said “Not everyone lives close to our grading depot, so to provide a convenient service to all, we have a network of collection sites located across Northern Ireland. Wherever possible we have a drop off location within one hour’s drive of any member.” 

To find you nearest drop off location to take your wool to look on our website https://www.ulsterwool.com  and under the Depot Network tab you will find your nearest drop off location. There is an easy-to-use depot locator that you simply enter your postcode, and it will give you all the locations where we receive wool in your area.

Ulster Wool members have the option of delivering their wool to one of our depots / drop off sites or have their wool collected from farm by one of our hauliers.  If you require your wool collected, your local grading depot will be able to put you in contact with the haulier that covers your area.

Deliveries to Ulster Wool grading depot or approved drop off sites will incur no onward carriage charge however, a transport charge is applied for each sheet collected from farm by Ulster Wool approved hauliers.

Packing

Wool should be delivered to Ulster Wool in wool sheets. These will be distributed by your local depot ahead of the new wool season. If you need wool sheets, please contact your local depot directly.

Members will also benefit from packing more wool into each sheet. By packing your wool into fewer sheets, you help reduce Ulster Wool costs which means more money can be returned to our members.

We advise that sheets are packed as full as possible however we advise that:

• Sheets are packed as full as possible however over filled sheets are difficult to handle and stack therefore, we recommend you fill your sheets evenly with a single fleece width in the sheet.
• Use of a packing frame can help ensure that all sheets are evenly packed. These can be purchased from British Wool or improvised using a couple of farm gates / hurdles.
• Where possible, pack fleeces from different breeds and types separately to avoid cross contamination and a reduced wool value.
• Keep mountain/hill wool and lowland wool separate. Kemp from hill wools can cause cross contamination and spoil lowland fleeces. Don't mix coloured wool with white wool as this will contaminate white wool. Also, separate wool from hoggs, ewes and wethers. This doesn’t mean you have to have extra wool sheets, fleeces can be placed in a clean bag within the same wool sheet to minimise handling and storage costs.
• Do not mix oddments with fleece wool. Roll fleeces properly. Only fleeces which are rolled can be graded and paid for at fleece wool prices. Unrolled wool has a lesser value and will be paid at a much lower rate.

Labels

Every year Ulster Wool handles wool from over 3,000 members across Northern Ireland.  

As such it is essential that all wool is clearly labelled by the member.

This year all Ulster Wool members that delivered in 2022-2023 will receive pre-printed labels that contain your details and a unique QR code for each wool sheet. All that is required is for you to fill in the Breeds, Sheet number and Number of sheets in your delivery. These labels will be posted out to you later in May ready for this year’s shearing.

One label should be attached to the outside of each wool sheet and another inserted in the sheet with the wool.

If your wool is not clearly identifiable it is much more challenging for Ulster Wool to ensure that you are paid correctly.