Wool: Natural, Low Carbon, Biodegradable

Four years back, David Heraty had had enough. Having just navigated a frenzied lambing season in his sheepfold, exhaustion had set in. The wool sheared from his flock was selling for a mere 50 cents per fleece. A laughable price, considering Heraty knew that the material could command prices of up to €10.

The odds were clearly stacked against him. The downward trend in Irish wool prices had begun in the 1950s, a time when wool was regarded as “gold,” and the income from a large flock’s yield was plenty to cover a year’s worth of grocery expenses. With aggressive competition from synthetic fibres, wool prices took a significant hit. By 2020, not only was wool valueless, it was costing farmers. Some left their wool hoards in field corners or sheds to decompose, while others switched to raising self-shedding, wool-less breed.

However, Heraty, a 34-year-old farmer located near Westport, sensed a hidden opportunity. In 2014, he spent an entire year on a sheep farm in New Zealand, where he saw the English breed Romney Marsh gaining favour for their meat and long, superior quality wool. His family, for five generations, had been rearing sturdy black-faced sheep in the Mayo hills. This breed was excellent for meat but disappointing when it came to their wool quality. However, by 2020, Heraty made a drastic change: he sold off his black-faced sheep, cleaned up their pens, and brought in Romney sheep from England.

Presently, Heraty’s earnings have risen by 15 per cent, flying in the face of the prevailing national trend of dwindling profits for sheep farmers. “I’m earning more with a distinct breed, and my financial state has improved due to wool sales,” states Heraty. He, along with four other farmers, founded the Emerald Romney sheep breeders’ group. Their objective is to spark the revival of the Irish wool industry and to benefit the farmers.

Heraty reveals, “People perceived me as a lunatic,” as he checks his sheep, a daily routine after dropping his little ones off at school. “But the current societal push for greener practices gives wool a vital role. My aspiration is to generate the highest quality wool there is.”

Heraty’s organisation has recently formed a partnership with Ériu, a textile and fashion firm established by Zoe Daly from Dublin and Lionel Mackey, a sheep breeder and business capitalist. They collaborate with about 80 Irish farmers to procure exclusively Irish wool, which is processed at Donegal Yarns and sold in the form of blankets, shawls, and yarn. “Over the last twelve months, I’ve been approached by various people across Ireland interested in utilising wool. It has real value and presents a significant opportunity,” says Heraty.

Between 2012 and 2023, the sheep population in Ireland grew significantly by about half a million to tally at 4.1 million. The industry is primarily geared towards meat production, positioning Ireland as the EU’s second-largest exporter and globally ranking fourth. However, the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) stipulates that the estimated 36,000 sheep herders, dependent solely on direct subsidies, belong to a low-income “frail” sector.

Heraty believes that currently unexplored markets exist for Irish wool beyond luxury clothing. The global wool industry, estimated at €31 billion, is propelled by prospective growth avenues in building insulation, drapes, carpets, firefighting uniforms (due to wool’s inherent flame resistance), fertilisers, horticulture. Lanolin, a greasy substance that sheep’s sebaceous glands secrete and is then extracted from the wool, finds use in the cosmetics industry and is progressively employed as shrimp feed in Asia’s fish farming sector.

While sheep are a source of greenhouse gas emissions, with worries regarding the effects of overgrazing, acclaimed ecologist and author Pádraic Fogarty has demanded a “full clearance” of sheep from poor-quality uplands. Conversely, wool possesses commendable sustainability features, being renewable, biodegradable, offering excellent insulation properties, and being highly durable. As it is breathable, resists odours, can be extensively used, wool has considerable advantages as a natural material. Recently it was used for paving footpaths on hilly walkways in Sligo.

Nonetheless, it falls short when compared with fast fashion’s preferred material: synthetic fibres, which were invented in the 1950s. Lightweight, fast to dry, and inexpensive, fabrics like nylon and polyester saw a surge in favourability. A DuPont advert from the 1960s promoted polyester with the claim: wash it any way you like, it requires no special care, it will last a lifetime… and provides better value for your money.

There’s a growing worldwide emphasis on green initiatives, and wool embodies this ethos more than any other. The production of polyester involves liquefying plastic pellets and forcing them through miniscule openings to form fibres, a process not unlike pasta production. However, the raw material is petroleum, a fossil fuel in liquid form. Presently, an annual output of 72 million tonnes of synthetic fibre, accounting for two-thirds of the total fibre production globally, is noted. Washing synthetic fabric can result in up to 2,000 fibres being shed per garment, and reports from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation suggest that approximately half a million tonnes of these tiny fibres end up in our seas each year due to laundry. Microplastics were discovered in human blood in 2022.

Around seven million kilograms of wool are produced by Irish farmers annually, but its texture is too rough for clothing. Only a few farmers sell their produce, and it’s bought by one of Ireland’s nine wool merchants. (Two of Ireland’s leading wool merchants were recently bought by UK buyers.) After being sent to the UK for cleaning (as Ireland’s wool processing plants are no longer operational), the wool is sold on the international carpet market or sent back to Ireland for additional processing into products such as pillows, insulation, clothing, and others.

The Irish Government pledged in 2020 to find innovative ways for farmers to profit from wool, in an attempt to revitalise the industry. The Irish Grown Wool Council, which speaks for the industry and is overseen by 21 volunteers, including Heraty, was established last year. The Department of Agriculture recently granted more than €500,000 to Munster Technological University to research potential markets for Irish wool, with findings due in early 2027.

In the words of Green Party’s Dr. Pippa Hackett, Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity in the Department of Agriculture and also a sheep farmer, the existing system is unfair. It favours synthetic fibres (developed from fossil fuels) over natural ones. She suggests that the wool sector may benefit from more support via public procurement and VAT cuts. “Wool is an amazing oeuvre— natural, carbon-neutral, biodegradable — and needs to be seen as a worthy investment,” she articulates.

Is it possible to establish a wool processing facility in Ireland? Kevin Dooley, a wool trader and Irish Wool Council member who manufactures woolen pillows and mattresses, suggests that if every kilogram of wool produced was washed, the concept would be worth considering. As it stands, importing one kilogram of cleaned wool costs approximately €5, whereas importing synthetic fibres from China would only set him back 20 cents.

Dooley optimistically notes the emerging opportunities in the industry and stresses the importance of employing a dedicated individual to facilitate the Wool Council’s activities and to ensure complete wool traceability right back to the source farm. A potential solution could be a small-scale wool processing plant.

In Wicklow, ex-medical professional, Catherine McCann, raises 37 Romney sheep in her farm. She shears the wool in June, segregates the clean wool from the dirty, the latter of which is utilised as a fertiliser in her kitchen garden. The clean wool is then dispatched to the Natural Fibre Company in Cornwall, a custom specialist wool processor serving small-scale farmers. The wool returns to McCann as yarn, which she then sells on to Studio Donegal in Kilcar. Here, the yarn is spun into various products eventually available for purchase at the Stable of Ireland in Dublin.

For McCann, a significant financial burden is the cost of sending her wool to Cornwall. She believes it would be more cost-effective if they had an in-house processor. “It seems regrettable that despite the historical prominence of our wool industry, we are currently devoid of any wool processing capabilities,” she laments.

However, Adrian Gallagher of the IFA asserts that gathering substantial amounts of raw wool will be feasible only once farmers witness an increase in price. He stresses the need to adjust perceptions, particularly among young farmers who currently undervalue wool. This leads to wool traders not getting access to the volume of wool they potentially could have. Gallagher insists that enhancing the value of wool and increasing the on-farm price is crucial.

But it isn’t just about the financial gains. Heraty shares how amazing it felt to hold a product made from his own wool. Last Christmas, he received a hand-woven hat made from his wool, a gesture of gratitude from Daly and Mackey in Ériu for supplying his wool. He described the feeling as “unbelievable”.

The gentleman recounts his experience of dressing his toddler in a cap fashioned from our freshly shorn sheep’s wool. That the wool he wore was taken directly from our flock startled the little one. The individual described the experience as the most gratifying he’s ever had.

Condividi