Can Discarded Sheep Wool from Skirting and Tagging be Used as Heavy Mulch in Reforestation to Eliminate the Need for Herbicides?

Commodities

• Additional Plants: trees
• Animal Products: fiber, fur, leather

Practices

• Education and Training: extension, farmer to farmer, on-farm/ranch research
• Farm Business Management: value added
• Natural Resources/Environment: afforestation, carbon sequestration, soil stabilization
• Pest Management: chemical control
• Soil Management: soil analysis

During the shearing process for wool sheep, wool is sorted by quality in a procedure known as skirting. Unfortunately, the skirting process creates a byproduct, often referred to as "Tag wool," consisting of wool from the belly and rear of the animal. This wool is typically dirty and saturated with a mix of undesirable elements such as vegetable matter, urine, and feces. In most cases, sheep producers dispose or incinerate this so-called Tag wool, thus incurring a cost. What if there was a beneficial way to utilize this byproduct?

We believe sheep producers have an opportunity to turn this byproduct into a valuable resource to be used to aid reforestation efforts. Traditional methods of managing competing vegetation during seedling development have involved the use of herbicides. However, locally, herbicide application is unpopular with the general public, due to perceived risk and potentially negative environmental impacts. There is a growing interest in finding alternative methods to reduce or eliminate the use of herbicides.

Our project's primary objective is to evaluate the efficacy of utilizing tag wool as mulch instead of herbicides. This will involve its application to a prepared seedling site, with subsequent comparison of key growth metrics against a site treated with conventional herbicides. Upon completion of the project, we will host a field trip allowing the project stakeholders to visit the testing site and generate a report detailing the results. We will disseminate the findings amongst the community via social media platforms, a newsletter article, and other media channels.

Create an opportunity for wool sheep producers to use a byproduct to establish a new sustainable agricultural practice.

Raw waste wool may be used as a sustainable, renewable and environmentally friendly alternative to herbicides.

Reduce or eliminate the use of herbicide to establish small desirable tree seedlings.