Luke Farmer shears a sheep at a farm on Hyrum Thursday

Tag : Wool Textile Materials
Hyrum electrician John Brown echoed her thoughts, saying hewasn’t sure what else to do with the shearings from the ninesheep he keeps on his family farm.

This year’s participants had some good news. Prices for woolfrom the two sheep breeds — whiteface and blackface —were fairly good. Whiteface wool was selling for $1.05 per poundcompared to 86 cents a year ago; blackface went for 40 cents perpound, compared to 32 cents a year ago.

Will Griggs, manager of Utah Wool Marketing Association, whichbought the wool, said the price increases were caused by a smalleramount of Australian wool hitting the market.

Still, Fielding sheep owner Gail Godfrey said it’s hard tomake a profit on blackface wool. The cost of feeding and shearingthe sheep and shipping the wool is just too high.

Kip Farmer, a Millville sheep owner and shearer, agreed, saying hehas clients who threw the wool away because they think itisn’t worth the gas to drive to Tremonton for the “woolpool.”

“Raising the sheep is not profitable unless you focus onniche markets for wool,” Farmer said, adding that he sellssome of the wool from his 30 animals to hand spinners who pay morefor quality.

“The number of sheep in Cache Valley is going down and itwill go down a lot more because hay is costing more,” hesaid.

Another source of the trouble is the wide availability of syntheticmaterials. In the 1980s, wool producers tried to get more for theirproduct, but the textile industry wouldn’t budge, Godfreysaid. Instead, manufacturers turned to synthetics and let wool sitin warehouses.

In addition, the number of family farms has declined as the regionbecomes more urban.

Forty-five years ago, when Godfrey began attending the “woolpool,” many people kept sheep and the collected wool filledrail cars. Now, the bags fit into one semi-truck.

“The world’s changed,” Godfrey said.“It’s a community where everyone goes off to work andthey don’t want to maintain sheep on top of that. … Idon’t know if it’s sad, it’s just the way thingsturned out.”

Godfrey works as a manufacturing engineer at ATK and has 50 ewes asa hobby.

“I think there will always be a wool pool of somekind,” he said. “I think — that’s with aquestion mark.”