Aiden Walsh of Texacloth announced ambitious plans to buy more Scottish wool this season at a press conference in Edinburgh yesterday.

Texacloth is one of two Irish wool merchants buying British wool in the UK. The British Wool Marketing Board (BWMB) has unique monopoly powers that force all sheep producers in the UK with more than four sheep to sell their wool to it.

Texacloth exploited a loophole in European Union regulations that allows farmers to bypass the board and sell their wool to companies outside the UK for export. It has been purchasing increasing quantities of Scottish wool since 1993 and in recent years has set up depots in Wales.

Last year, the company bought in excess of 2.5 million kilogrammes in the UK.

Another Irish buyer, Vincent Pearce, buys similar quantities of wool from southern England.

"We plan to increase our wool buying in Scotland by 50% this season," said Walsh. That ambitious target will take his Scottish purchases to about two million kilos, or close on 30% of the Scottish clip.

Walsh conceded that he had been forced to turn away large numbers of potential sellers last year attracted by the considerably better prices his firm was paying but added: "We are better prepared to cope with increased volumes this year."

He blames poor management of the BWMB for the low prices it offers and explained: "We are a family business with no frills. We pay the farmer on the day, sort the wool and then sell it on.

"We don't have the overheads of the BWMB."

Walsh was critical of the way the BWMB is run and the way Bradford wool merchants have an undue influence on its policies.

"The wool merchants have become bully boys and are now running the show," he said.

His main contention was that only half a dozen of the 22 registered wool buyers now buy significant quantities at the BWMB's fortnightly auctions, leading to poor competition, and cites the buyers' rejection of opening up the auction system.

The BWMB invested heavily in an electronic auction system to allow wool buyers around the world to bid, but registered buyers opposed that and insisted that only they can participate in the sales.

Walsh also pointed out that the BWMB's unique policy of selling wool on forward contracts at auction is currently working against farmers' interests.

Astute merchants bought 8.5 million kilos of wool on forward contracts last autumn at less than 70p per kilo and, as a result, are under no pressure to bid now that prices have started to rise. That has left the BWMB with the expense of financing and storing the wool for the merchants.

Walsh held out the prospect of a windfall to those producers who stored last year's wool on farm in the hope of better prices.

"We are not going back to the rock-bottom prices of recent years," he predicted. Rog Wood was a member of the British Wool Marketing Board until his resignation last year over policy differences.

Lochhead draws line on bluetongue Farmers face fines of £5000 or six months in jail if they fail to comply with new laws designed to stop bluetongue virus spreading to Scotland.

Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, yesterday outlined additional checks on livestock coming to Scotland from UK bluetongue restricted zones.

These animals will be checked to ensure that all necessary conditions have been met and that pre-movement testing has taken place.

Post-movement testing will be performed on livestock not tested and any necessary action will be taken.

The checks are in addition to the legal requirements on farmers to report the movement of animals from any restricted zone to the Scottish Government within three days of arrival.

Welcoming the move, NFU Scotland said it would have preferred the Scottish Government to go further and introduce mandatory post-movement tests.

NFUS also reminded all farmers that the best way to keep Scotland disease free is not to source stock from bluetongue zones at all.