Wool Show Superintendent, Sandy Miller announced last Wednesday that there will not be a Wool Show at the 72nd Annual Montana Seed Show when it takes place next month at Harlem High School on March 10-12. She cited several barriers to explain the cancellation.
The Wool Show was typically the signature event for Thursday night of the Seed Show. However, according to Miller, last year only five fleeces were on display, and those came through primarily as a result of the extra effort of two dedicated producers. Between flagging interest and the decision to hold the show over three days instead of four, the Wool Show was dropped.
"Low participation played the biggest role," Miller reported. She attributed those numbers to a reduction in producers, as well as to the burden of having shearing done by Seed Show time in March. "Between the weather's inability to make up its mind and the difficulty in finding shearing crews, many producers just don't shear until later," she added.
Although February is traditionally the beginning of shearing season in Montana, the clippers continue to hum across the state until May. Most producers time their shearing to ensure the wool is off before lambing time. Shearing not only makes the lambing process cleaner, but with their winter fleeces missing, the ewes are more likely to seek shelter, a behavior which improves their lambs' chances of survival.
However, with spring snowfall fairly common in North Central Montana and with temperatures being equally fickle, many producers are lambing later. Changes over the years in wool and lamb markets have also caused a significant decrease in the number of large sheep operations. Given that fact, shearing crews are stretched to find large flocks to shear, making them less available, as well.
According to a survey conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service, Mountain Regional Field Office, the January 1, 2022 inventory of all sheep and lambs in Montana totaled 190,000 head. That number is down five percent from January 1, 2021.
That report further states that wool production in Montana during 2021 totaled 1.49 million pounds, down four percent from the previous year. The number of all sheep and lambs shorn, at 170,000 head, was down six percent from 180,000 head shorn a year earlier. The value of wool production for 2021 totaled $3.28 million and was down four percent from a year earlier as producers received $2.20 per pound of wool sold compared with $2.20 per pound the previous year.