Sheepskin car seat covers, and wool-lined gloves were once the height of luxury but these days, farmers are lucky if they're not charged a fee to send them to landfill.
Several Australian abattoirs are charging producers a fee for sending sheepskins to landfillSheepskin prices have dropped dramatically in the past year, affected by the depressed wool market and sheep oversupplyOther times, they might fetch him just a couple of dollars each.
But with some processors charging farmers a fee to dispose of the skins instead of buying them, industry representatives are concerned about a premium product going to waste.Frustrated by seeing his own sheepskins go to waste, Mr Gordon has been retrieving some from processors to have them tanned and turned into blankets himself."I've got a cousin with motor neuron disease and she's always got a skin in her wheelchair and she's stopped getting sores from sitting in the chair.
"The tanning industry left this country many years ago, and so ugg boots and car seats have been coming back from China for a long time now."In August Thomas Foods International joined other meat processors in charging livestock producers a dumping fee for their sheepskins and lambskins.
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