Sheep Industry News August 2025

U.S. Wool Testing Continues to Advance, But Needs Your Support

C ommercial Wool Testing in the U.S. is Critical When the Covid-19 pandemic began five years ago, the global disruption highlighted the need for domestic resources. International shipping became strained, people around the world were secluded at home, and the global economy paused. Times like this emphasize just how fragile the global system is and how important it is to maintain key capabilities here at home, including domestic wool testing. Domestic wool testing is also critical in the event of a trade barrier, such as when imports are prohibited due to sanitary & phytosanitary (SPS) restrictions. If there were a serious disease outbreak in the U.S. (such as Foot and Mouth Disease) and borders “closed” internationally, raw wool samples would need to be treated for disease

pathogens before leaving the U.S. or could be prohibited. With SPS restrictions, it would add weeks of time before wool would be allowed to be shipped overseas. Having a domestic wool testing lab ensures that wool can still be tested within a reasonable amount of time and ensures that wool trade could continue domestically and interna tionally. Wool Testing in the U.S. The Bill Simms Wool and Mohair Research Lab (BSWMRL) at Texas Agrilife in San Angelo, Texas pro vides both commercial core testing as well as individual fleece testing. While several U.S. labs offer individual fleece testing for micron, the Bill Simms Lab is the only lab in the country offering both commercial core testing and individual fleece yield and VM testing.

Commercial core tests: use LaserScan instruments to determine important data necessary for selling wool commercially, such as: • Mean fiber – Micron • Variability of fiber diameter – Coefficient of variation (CV) and Standard Deviation (SD) • Yield – Percentage of clean wool after scouring • Vegetable matter – (VM) Percentage of hay, chaff, straw, seeds, burrs, and other VM present

These are critical figures used in selling wool commercially – domestically and internationally. They are also essential information for valuing and processing wool.

Individual fleece micron tests: use an Optical Fiber Diameter Analyzer (OFDA) instrument to garner: • Mean fiber diameter - Micron • Variability of fiber diameter - CV & SD • Histograms - Showing micron changes over the period of time the wool was grown. For example, a producer might be able to see how specific management practices like lambing or lush summer feed impact fiber diameter.

Individual fleece tests also available at the Bill Simms Lab include: • Yield - Percentage of clean wool after scouring • Vegetable matter - (VM) Percentage of hay, chaff, straw, seeds, burrs, and other VM present

Having data on individual fleeces provides producers insights into how management practices impact the quality and value of their wool. It also provides producers with data that can be used for fleece selection and genetic improvement.

August 2025 • Sheep Industry News • 17