The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The Hi-Line Wool Pool will be collecting wool on May 11 from 7:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Malta City Shop, located south of Malta at 735 South First Avenue East. All new producers and current wool pool members are welcome.

With approximately 35 producers, the Hi-Line Wool Pool is one of twelve wool pools currently active in Montana, according to records maintained by the American Sheep Industry Association. Wool pools enable ranchers to combine their product to get better prices in a competitive market. Pools also serve a vital function in reducing transportation costs and giving smaller growers an advantage in today's world market.

"When consolidated, the wool brings a better price because larger quantities draw better buyers and increase marketing options," Sarah Townsend, Phillips County Extension Administrative Support & 4-H Assistant, stated.

In 1968, through the cooperation of the growers themselves, the Montana Woolgrowers Association, the Montana Wool Laboratory, and the Montana Cooperative Extension Service, 29 pools were active in the state. With the decline in sheep numbers since the end of their peak in the 1940's, that number has dwindled.

The Hi-Line Wool Pool is part of the Eastern Montana Consolidated Wool Pool, which formed in the fall of 2001 with leadership from Phillips County Extension Agent Marko Manoukian and Blaine County Agent at the time, Mike Schuldt. They saw consolidation as an opportunity to use their contacts to assist producers.

"Although it is one of the lesser known agricultural commodities, wool is a good renewable resource," Manoukian said.

In 2018, wool sales set a record when the Eastern Consolidated Wool Pool sold 102,191 pounds of wool. The Eastern Consolidated pool represented growers from five pools covering areas of Front Range (Choteau to Fort Benton), Hi-Line (Havre to Nashua), Northeastern (Plentywood), Lower Yellowstone (Sidney), and MonDak (Wibaux to Beach, North Dakota). The total pool value was $282,583.96. Individual statistics below provide an accounting of this record. All bid values are based on grease net weight. Grease wool is a shorn fleece before it has been cleaned:

• 32,417 pounds of Line 1 – Whiteface Fine average 21.70 micron sold for $3.462 per pound

• 28,885 pounds of Line 2 Whiteface-Choice average 22.60 micron sold for $3.262 per pound

• 22,856 pounds of Line 3 Whiteface-regular average 25.30 micron sold for $2.567 per pound

• 8,424 pounds of Line 6 Blackface-Choice average 30.4 micron sold for $0.536 per pound

• 6,278 pounds of Line 8 Bellies sold for $1.64 per pound

• 3,331 pounds of Line 9 Tags sold for $0.80 per pound

According to Manoukian, wool will lose approximately half of its weight once vegetable matter, other impurities, and grease are subtracted. "Hay, organic matter, other foreign elements, and lanolin weight get subtracted so that the grower has a pretty close estimation of the wool's 'clean' weight."

The record high prices in 2018 were the result of a global shortage of fine wools. "To give context to this crop's value, selling one ton of Line 1 fine wool would equal $6,624 per ton. Not many legal agricultural crops can boast similar yield values," Manoukian said. "Approximately six per cent of the total wool volume in the state comes from the Eastern Consolidated Wool Pool," he added.

Fine, soft wools bring higher prices and can be made into shirts or other garments worn against the skin, while coarser wool will often be used by hand-spinners or to make carpet or insulation. Manoukian reports that the finer wools frequently come from Merino, Targhee, and Rambouillet breeds. "Grade refers to the relative diameter of the wool fibers (fineness) and should not be confused with quality and type," Manoukian cautioned.

In order for sheep producers to improve wool production and to get top prices for their fleeces, they need this kind of analytical data. In Montana, producers are fortunate to have access to Montana State University Bozeman's (MSU) Wool Lab. The Wool Lab was established and funded in 1945 by the Montana Legislature in response to calls from wool growers who wanted a facility that could provide them with technical information to improve their flocks. The Montana Wool Lab was incorporated into MSU's Department of Animal and Range Sciences in the 1980's.

"The Wool Lab is critical to our function," Manoukian stated. "On site, we use one of their machines to grade the wool. This computerized device scans a finger-sized piece of wool and analyzes it for fiber characteristics, such as diameter and staple length. After analyzing the fleeces, we sort them into different grades of quality, which further helps the participating wool growers sell their product." To get the wool certified, however, it is sent to a lab in Denver.

These analyses are required for producers to enroll in the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP), the only American organization to offer United States sheep producers a proven genetic selection system to use to improve flock productivity and quality. Producers wishing to start or to expand a flock are encouraged to have wool analyzed so they know the wool quality of the potential purchases since wool condition is a moderately heritable trait.

According to Larry Prager, chief executive officer of Center of the Nation Wool, Incorporated based in South Dakota, "Montana producers are known across the United States for producing superior fineness, length, color, and uniformity each spring when their fleeces come to market. The cornerstone of this reputation is the ongoing research and information shared by Montana's Wool Lab."

The mission of the Wool Lab is to provide high quality, prompt analytical services to sheep producers, the wool industry, and wool researchers in Montana and the United States. Its primary objective is to help sheep producers improve their wool clip for fiber diameter and wool yield, factors which will significantly influence their income from wool. By extension, the Wool Lab serves producers by conducting scientific and practical research for the purpose of obtaining knowledge about wool.

Collaboration with scientists and personnel at the University of Wyoming, New Mexico State University, University of Nevada, University of Minnesota, Texas A&M University, United States Department of Agriculture, United States Sheep Experiment Station, and National Sheep Industry Improvement Center have helped the Montana Wool Lab reach its current status as a leader in fiber research in the United States.

Producers with questions about delivery or wool preparation requirements should contact Marko Manoukian, Phillips County Extension Agent at 406-654-2543, or Juli Snedigar, Blaine County Extension Agent at 406-357-3200.

"Anyone with wool to sell is welcome to bring it to the Malta City Shop on May 11. We will deduct for handling and certification, as well as for local wool pool fees and dues for the Montana Wool Growers Association," Manoukain said.