Integrating Sheep Wool Pellets with Specialty Crop Systems to Enhance Soil Health, Water Storage, Carbon Sequestration, and Plant Production

View the project final report

Commodities

• Agronomic: potatoes
• Fruits: melons
• Vegetables: beans, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, greens (leafy), peppers
• Animals: sheep
• Animal Products: Wool Pellets

Practices

• Crop Production: cropping systems, fertilizers, high tunnels or hoop houses, nutrient management, organic fertilizers, tissue analysis
• Education and Training: demonstration, display, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research, workshop, conference presentations
• Natural Resources/Environment: carbon sequestration
• Pest Management: mulches - general, physical control
• Production Systems: integrated crop and livestock systems, organic agriculture
• Soil Management: organic matter, soil analysis, soil quality/health, sheep wool pellets
• Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, new business opportunities, partnerships

Shearing is a necessary step in the husbandry of sheep, required for animal health and welfare.  Since 1994, the market price for wool has been dropping, now below the cost of shearing. If not utilized in small batch wool niche markets, limited by availability of fiber mills, and with few wool buyers in the North Central Region (NCR) wool piles up in barns or is dumped in sink holes and woods. Waste wool from farm sources is increasingly considered a potential fertilizer source and mulch, improving soil water holding capacity and soil health.  Integrating animal and plant growing systems shows promise toward mitigating the impact of agriculture on climate change.  The application of wool has been observed to have a beneficial effect on soil quality and plant performance with few negative effects; yet, there is still much to be understood with regards to application rates and timing for specific crops and soils.  Field trials around the globe and in the Northeast and Southwest United States have begun to evaluate the effects of wool pellets and other waste wool products on the growth and productivity of field and high tunnel grown specialty crops; however, knowledge and application of wool pellets in growing systems is very limited, especially in the NCR. 

The integration of wool with growing systems provides an opportunity to bring sheep producers, specialty crop growers, sheep shearers and wool markets, soil scientists, horticulturists, engineers, local communities and others together to facilitate diverse and resilient food and fiber systems that prioritize soil health.  The application of wool pellets in growing systems is complex and under researched.  For example, we do not have application rates for different soils, different crops and/or different growing conditions. 

Pelleting wool can be challenging.  Making the perfect pellet consistently that will hold up to dispersal equipment depends upon the nature of wool (not all wool is the same), the moisture content of wool, the environment where pelleting is taking place, the amount of other fiber in the fiber, such as straw bedding or hay, and the amount of lanolin in the wool to mention just a few key factors.  These challenges are inherent to efforts to scale pellet production which is paramount to making wool pellets an economically viable soil amendment.

Our Farmer Rancher Project was ambitious in its efforts to not only demonstrate how wool pellets can be applied in organic growing systems and provide a comparison with grower standards, but it also aimed to add data to our understanding of the use of wool pellets in growing vegetables in the field and high tunnel systems.  We hoped that our data (soil tests, plant tissue analysis, watering rates, crop yields) would inform organic specialty crop growing in the field (carrots, melons, potatoes, broccoli, brussels sprout) and high tunnel (kale, spinach, peppers, beans) providing insights into application rates under different growing conditions.  We did in part achieve this goal; however, we did not feel entirely confident in our ability to analyze the results.  We have shared what we have learned so far in this report, as well as with other farmers and our local community. The complexities discussed above and experienced within the context of this project have made apparent the necessity of encouraging regional research and education teams that have the breadth of expertise needed to advance goals for application rates and different crop requirements.  We are currently working with our land grant extension researchers and experts to help with analysis and interpretation of all of our crop and soil data.

Local and regional partnerships between sheep producers and shearers, wool pelletizers and specialty crop growers with the help of university researchers will improve upon our understanding for the applications of wool pellets and foster robust local food and fiber communities, no doubt inspiring new ways to integrate livestock with growing systems.  We have certainly found this to be true.  As well this project has grown the number of small farms in Indiana who are integrating livestock and wool in growing systems as well as those interested in collaborating.  Lastly, this project has inspired an Indiana regional wool pelleting network with the support of the Indiana Sheep Association. 

Wool Pellet Specialty Crop
Project Overview and Timeline (Project Work Overview and Timeline, PDF)

This demonstration and education proposal applied wool pellets as a soil amendment in organic specialty (vegetable) crop growing systems.  The farmer team explored how wool pellets fit with current management practices and could be used to meet soil nutrient requirements for organic crops.  The results from this on-farm implementation of wool pellets in growing melons, potatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and carrots in the field and kale, spinach, peppers and beans in high tunnel production systems was shared during field days, conference presentations, community garden events, web and social media outlets and in publications.  Additionally, videos  and photographs facilitated sharing and learning about wool, pelletizing wool, application of wool pellets as a soil amendment and the influence of wool pellets on soil health and crop production.  Importantly, this project also sought to understand how wool pellet application fits and compares with existing growing practices. The farmer rancher team believes that in order for there to be adoption of new management practices in farming systems that they must be applied and shared locally/regionally farmer-to-farmer so as to facilitate innovation and new management practices that can be applied on each unique small farm.

Objectives: 

1. Local integration of animal (sheep wool) and plant (vegetable) systems
2. Demonstrate the potential for reducing wool waste and providing value added product for sheep producers
3. Provide for enhanced soil nutrient cycling in organic specialty crop systems using wool pellets
4. Evaluate and share best management practices for wool pellet integration with specialty crop growing systems
5. Demonstrate production and implementation of wool pellets in organic specialty crop production for sheep producers and specialty crop growers.

A figure provides an overview and timeline for the three phases of the project work plan (Planning, Implementation with Demonstration, and Dissemination).