Why it matters: The Canadian Wool Innovation Prize celebrates innovative Canadian wool products in apparel, interiors, agriculture, or science, created by individuals or companies.

The wool-based food packaging is the brainchild of southwestern Ontario artist and sheep farmer Jennifer Osborn, who founded EcoWool and operates All Sorts Acres Farm.

This is the second year that the C founded by entrepreneur, .“We’re thrilled to bring back the Canadian Wool Innovation Prize for its second year running!” said Matthew Rowe, CEO, The Canadian Wool Council.

The Campaign for Wool Canada/Canadian Wool Council, with support from The Worshipful Comp announced the winner at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

The wool-based food packaging is the brainchild

InsWoolation utilizes the natural properties of coarse, kempy, short, coloured fibre wool that doesn’t meet commercial-grade standards, transforming it into thermal insulation with moisture regulation for perishable food transport. “There will always be wool that doesn’t make the grade,” said Osborn. “Products such as InsWoolation capture this wool and use it to showcase its natural properties.”

Designed for small- and medium-sized food and farm businesses, InsWoolation’s boxes and pouches offer a circular, reusable and recyclable shipping alternative, keeping food fresh, stable and frozen for up to 36 hours or cold for up to 72 hours, reducing spoilage and the industry’s reliance on synthetic packaging.

Osborn’s InsWoolation supports farmers, adds value to underutilized fibre, and strengthens regional wool systems here in Canada.

Wool is the most incredible fibre and we’re honoured to give a boost to innovative Canadians like Jennifer, making the most of what it has to offer,” said Rowe. “Through this Prize, we are investing in future demand for natural, sustainable, renewable, Canadian wool.”

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“It’s a lot of marginal land, high clay soil, so we have a lot of opportunity to lease pasture cheaply,” said Bonham-Carter, who rents approximately 800 acres on the island. “As long as we’re willing to put in the work to fence everything up and get a sheep out there.”

They lamb out 1,200 ewes in a low-input operation by synchronizing lambing with grass growth, using electric fencing systems, a Prattley mobile handling system, and robust New Zealand Coopworth genetics to produce “easy-care ewes” that flourish in harsh winters and dry summers.

The Prattley mobile handling system enables a single person to handle, sort, dock, wean, drench, and vaccinate on pasture without needing additional labour.

“It doesn’t matter if you use it four kilometres away from home or 100 yards from the barn, we can yard them and sort them and drench them,” she said. “We get a lot of use out of it, and it opens up a lot of grazing opportunities we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

Initially, the flock was a mix of half Coopworth, a quarter Border Cheviot and Romanov. It is now transitioning to 100 per cent Coopworth to take advantage of the breed’s forgeability, fertility, natural parasite resistance, easy lambing, and good pasture lamb percentage traits.

“Worm resistance is something that we’re really interested in, because it means less drenching, and hopefully we can get onto that feed a little sooner,” she explained. “We still have to manage carefully, but it’s just another tool in the toolkit.”

Bonham-Carter mentioned that the Nikau Coopworth genetics promote strong maternal traits and reliable twin births, which is preferable since triplets often struggle in pasture systems and are more vulnerable to parasites and predators. Besides genetics, Bonham-Carter said they have added cattle into the grazing system to reduce parasite loads and provide fresh feed for lambs after weaning.

They are looking to incorporate some terminal sires to add diversity to the lambs and recently purchased a few Texel sheep from Bill McCutcheon, a producer and lamb merchandiser for Ontario Lamb Marketing Inc.

Footflats Farm maintains a small flock of purebred, non-registered Border Cheviots, using the rams to breed first-time-lambing ewes, which produce smaller lambs with good birth vigour. The Border Cheviot lambs develop into small, well-muscled carcasses that are well-suited for ethnic markets, with Footflats Farm focusing on the light lamb market from December to February.

“We target the light lamb market. So, lambs at about 70 pounds is what we go for,” she explained. “They are a medium-sized sheep. They’re certainly not a large sheep, which is great for feed conversion.”

The award was sponsored by DLF, the Ontario Forage Council, and the Ontario Sheep Farmers.

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Why it matters: Innovation outside of the textile, yarn and weaving markets can boost farm sustainability, reduce waste, and strengthen Canada’s wool and manufacturing industries.

During the Campaign for Wool Canada’s Spinning Yarns speaker series on Oct. 16, Lindsey Weber explained how she went from sheep farmer to a 100 per cent Canadian wool felt manufacturer in a matter of years.

Her geotextile business, WoolGrown, uses wool to create products that amend the soil and help suppress weeds.

Weber has an International Development BA from the University of Guelph with a focus on sustainable local business. She said her grandparents’ farm and her family’s mid-scale manufacturing business fostered her eco-friendly, creative, entrepreneurial spirit.

“I’ve done a lot of research and development work in repurposing and reutilizing materials, especially raw materials, that are in our everyday products,” she said.

“So, when I did get sheep … I started really experimenting and seeing how much you’re able to process, where the wool goes (and) what it’s usually used for.”

From an agri-food byproduct perspective, the fibre quality, length and plant matter contamination level of her wool didn’t fit into the traditional weaving, yarns, textiles, and home goods markets.

Where it did fit was felting.

Weber, an avid gardener and landscaper, began exploring garden fabrics and other home and lifestyle uses for raw wool as a sustainable, regenerative, biodegradable alternative to synthetic materials.

“It’s a natural material,” she said. “It’s biodegradable in nature, has natural moisture retention (and) weed suppression … that’s what sprouted the idea.”

She developed growing pots ideal for transplanting, fibre mats with standard and customizable spacing and hole sizes, sheep tea pouches to enrich water, soil-amending wool pellets and pelletizing services for sheep and alpaca producers.

She even developed a felted lambing jacket.

Weber said their business can access everything necessary to manufacture and transport their products within a 250-kilometre radius, enabling them to increase capacity and volume quickly, whether in felting or pelletizing.

Weber is a prime example of the Canadian Wool Council’s mandate, said Matthew Rowe, Campaign for Wool Canada’s CEO.

“(Our work is) really centred around three main goals: to rebrand and revalue Canadian wool, to connect the entire Canadian wool industry and all levels, and give Canadian wool a voice on the international stage,” he said.

This spring, WoolGrown partnered with the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario to conduct farmer-led research at a local fruit tree nursery until 2026. The study compares the effectiveness of the wool felt mat, raw wool, wood chips, and a hemp mat. The trial will monitor product degradation and measure soil and plant benefits.

A second trial is comparing WoolGrown fabric to traditional landscape fabrics, with further research planned for 2026 to test the products in real-world conditions, including field, greenhouse, and raised-bed environments. The trial is focusing on biodegradability, durability, and lifespan of the fabrics.

Weber said seeking out wool’s value-added opportunities is an ongoing process, including researching the wool’s keratin potential to replace plastic in everyday household materials.

“That’s really interesting to me from a manufacturing standpoint,” she said. “I don’t have the capacity to look at it right now, but it’s definitely on my radar.”

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Why it matters: Celebrating commercial innovation within Canada’s domestic wool value chain and its connection to the global industry, CWIP is the largest payout of its kind.

“Wool is the most incredible fibre, and we’re honoured to give a boost to the innovative Canadians making the most of what it has to offer,” said Matthew Rowe, Canadian Wool Council CEO, in a statement.

“Through this prize, we are investing in future demand for natural, sustainable, renewable, Canadian wool.”

Partially funded by the Worshipful Company of Woolmen, which administers the British Innovation in Wool Awards, and the Campaign for Wool Canada/Canadian Wool Council, the competition bridges the Canadian and British wool industries, opening new opportunities for collaboration.

Applicants with commercially viable innovation projects or businesses, including apparel, interiors, agriculture, science and other fields, must meet one or more of the following criteria: primarily using Canadian wool, demonstrating tangible value for Canadian wool products, utilizing Canadian or United Kingdom manufacturing, and showing potential wool volume usage for the first year with future scalability.

The CWIP split the prize in year one between two companies, Brand Felt and the General Bean.

Mississauga’s Brand Felt, a fourth-generation felt manufacturer, created the “F10 Ultra Unity Pad”, a one-piece patented contoured saddle pad made with premium wool felt and heroes’ wool, supplied by Merino Rambouillet sheep from Wilson Ranch in Alberta, rather than synthetic fibres.

The General Bean, a family-run fibre art business on British Columbia’s north coast, creates sustainable, locally crafted needle felting kits made with Canadian wool and sold throughout North America. These kits not only support Canada’s wool industry but also help preserve fibre art skills.

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Canada is home to more than 800,000 sheep across more than 40 breeds.

Several dozen Shetland sheep were sheared by award-winning shearer Don Metheral from Great Lakes Shearing Co. in Glen Huron.

Why It Matters: Canadian farms produce approximately two million kilograms of wool annually.

Canadian Wool Council CEO Matthew Rowe told Farmtario that this event is an important educational experience for Canadians.

“I think there is a lot of misunderstanding of where wool actually comes from. The number of people that actually think that the animal has to die to be able to collect the fibre is uncomfortably high. This is a chance to be able to demystify some of the myths around shearing and to be able to show where the wool comes from and the beautiful environment that these animals live in,” Rowe said, adding that wool prices continue to be low, presenting challenges for some farmers.

He noted there are trade issues with the United States due to the two nations having an as an integrated industry with a lot of cross-border trade.

“The upset and instability in the trade relations with the U.S. is just adding another issue for fibre farmers to have to worry about,” he said.

The economic value of the Canada-U.S. wool trade spans multiple sectors, including raw fibre, textiles, furniture, and clothing. In 2022, Canada exported more than $1.3 million in wool products, equaling more than 620 metric tons of wool to the U.S., the country’s primary market. Annually, the two countries export approximately $1 billion in textile products.

Erin Morgan, executive director of Ontario Sheep Farmers, said the day also provides an opportunity to bring awareness to some of the issues facing sheep farmers on a more local scale.

Currently there are not enough people entering the sheep shearing industry to keep up with demand. As a result, she said, this made processing wool more challenging.

“I think one of the biggest challenges we are facing today is access to processing for sheep farmers to bring their product to market. Some other challenges are access to veterinarians,” she said. “That’s a big problem for sheep farmers and other large livestock farmers in Ontario. We just don’t have enough veterinarians in Ontario that treat livestock.”

Morgan noted that the industry is not facing the same challenges as others with regards to tariffs due to sheep and lamb market is domestic in nature.

“Very little of our product goes down to the United States, so for our members, the tariffs aren’t as big an issue as some of the other commodities in Ontario that rely on the U.S. market,” she said.

Value Added Products

Speaking to the wool market in Canada, Rowe added that Canada has unique climate conditions not found in other parts of the world that play a role in both quality and durability.

“Our climate creates a highly elastic and resilient wool. It’s a great blending wool, which is one of the reasons why, when it’s sold abroad, a lot of places will use Canadian wool to add loft to a yarn blend,” he said.

Rowe noted that Canadian wool is a medium coarse fleece that is soft on the skin, but can also be used for carpets and upholstery, which are found all over the world. He said the Council emphasizes the importance of value-added products. Its versatility is part of the appeal globally, adding that it is always critical to check the label to ensure you are getting a truly Canadian product.

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“It’s been a good couple of days for Canadian wool,” said Matthew Rowe, Campaign for Wool CEO, from the International Wool Symposium held in Montreal.

Why it matters: The financial potential of Canadian wool is gaining attention on the global market.

The world is noticing the value of Canada’s wool industry, said Rowe, through the high-end 100 per cent Canadian wool rugs gracing Canada’s global diplomatic offices and by hosting the International Wool Textile Organization annual convention within two years of gaining membership.

The new investment comes on the heels of a previous two-year federal funding program focused on developing, branding and marketing the upholstery and carpet plans for Canadian wool.

Campaign for Wool also launched the Fabric of Canada film series and courted the international convention. Its global table includes large production countries like China and Australia, as well as sub-national units like the Falkland Islands, but not Canada.

“We secured Canada’s first-ever seat in the history of the organization,” said Rowe.

“From becoming the newest member to becoming a very prominent member and then now hosting the world here in Canada, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind.”

The convention was a powerful stimulus for the Canadian industry and a coming-out party of sorts for Canadian wool to the world, Rowe added.

“Here in Montreal, at the global wool industry’s first-ever Canadian meeting, we are seeing the advantages of Canada sharing its agricultural, manufacturing, and design talents with the world,” said Brenda Shanahan, MP for Chateauguay-Lacolle, at the symposium.

Shanahan, who announced the funding on behalf of federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay, said the investment will increase the CWC’s ability to amplify Canadian wool’s brand exposure and connection within the global industry.

“Our goal is to have a larger, more prosperous and profitable industry. We want farmers to get a better price at every step of the way,” said Rowe. “Because we’re representing the entire value chain, we want to create more opportunities in Canadian wool for manufacturers and designers.”

He said a second rug partnership with one of North America’s largest rug producers in British Columbia will marry 100 per cent Canadian wool rugs with designs by a hereditary Coast Salish chief featured in the Fabric of Canada series.

The conference included a presentation by North America’s largest suit manufacturer based in Montreal. Rowe said CFW pitched the idea for a 100 per cent Canadian wool tweed jacket, and the manufacturer spoke further on the proposition.

“It’s an amazing way of spreading the impact of this initiative and creating more high-value-added products, growing the market, the availability of products and the premium destination points for our fibre.”

Ontario Sheep Farmers and Alberta Lamb Producers, who represent the majority of Canada’s sheep producers, are equally invested in the initiative and applauded the federal government’s financial commitment.

Art Alblas, Ontario Sheep Farmers chair, said it will strengthen the wool sector and the CWC’s effort to build value in Canadian raised fibre.

Jordan Allen, Alberta Lamb Producers chair, said the investment, along with Campaign for Wool’s branding and marketing strategy, will provide Canadian sheep producers with more benefits and opportunities to realize the value of their wool in the market.

“Wool pelleting is a big thing in Alberta and becoming bigger, or using (wool) as bedding or alternative uses like insulation in barns because there isn’t a lot of other avenues,” said Allen.

She said she hoped the funding will encourage further development of processing facilities.

“We don’t have the processing facilities that are large enough to deal with the amount of wool we have in the province,” she said. “Not that this funding is going to all of a sudden magically bring a processing facility, but I’m hoping it’ll open up avenues for that.”

Allen said the conference provided information and inspiration she was eager to share with members.

Rowe said the CWC and Campaign for Wool are building an industry where people can make a good living and be proud of what they produce.

“Because, of course, wool is a natural, sustainable, biodegradable (product),” said Rowe. “This is something that’s going to be good for our economy, but also for the planet.”

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“This year alone, I’ve transacted on 67,000 pounds of wool, all Ontario wool – it’s not nothing,” said Underhill, owner of OA Wool, to Ontario Sheep Farmers annual general meeting attendees in Alliston, Oct. 26.

Why it matters: Contrary to the stereotype that it’s too coarse for anything other than insulation, Ontario wool’s average of 26 to 29 microns makes it ideal for commercial use as blankets, luxury rugs, upholstery, and outerwear.

“And this is the first year I’ve been operating under this business model,” she added.

Underhill forms partnerships with farmers and farm groups, buys the wool, processes it, and markets it to the commercial supply chain and vertically integrated wool manufacturing.

Regarding the commercial market’s desirable micron range, Ontario producers already raise ideal breeds. With a few on-farm alternations, the wool clip value could increase, she said.

Trillium Lamb Producers (Trillium), a coalition of approximately 25 producers, began working with Underhill recently after members prioritized the need to increase wool value, said Jenny Carnaghan, Trillium chair.

“Shearing is an expense right now,” said Carnaghan. “What we wanted to accomplish was recouping some of that expense as opposed to just considering it a health expense.”

On average, Carnaghan shears 500 sheep three times a year at $6.50 an animal, producing three to five pounds of fleece traditionally sold for between 10 and 15 cents a pound.

“We produce lamb. That’s what we do. That’s what my focus is. I don’t have time to figure out how I can get a few more cents out of my wool,” she said.

“I know there’s value there. I can’t commit to researching that and putting time and effort into that.”

In 2021, Trillium sold a tractor-trailer load of wool to MacAusland’s Woolen Mills in Prince Edward Island.

In 2022, they shipped a container to the United Kingdom scouring and cleaning facility before it returned to Canada and crafted into throws selling for $250 each.

On both those transactions, wool paid out at a dollar a pound, proving it’s worth more than current industry standards indicate.

During a recent carpet prototyping, Underhill’s partner The Campaign for Wool in Canada / The Canadian Wool Council (CWC) sent Ontario wool, spun in New Brunswick, to Nepal to be hand-knotted by experienced artisans.

“They said Canadian wool is some of the softest wool they’ve ever worked with in its micron range,” Underhill said. “Therefore, it’s easier on the hands, it makes a more luxurious product, it had a nicer lustre to it, and it absorbed and retained colour better.”

That resulted in an ongoing partnership with Toronto’s Creative Matters who added a 100 per cent Canadian wool option to any of the high-end rugs they produce as well as adding an Ontario manufacturing partner for hand-tufted rugs. Their clients include the Canadian Government who have bought several rugs for Diplomatic missions abroad.  To continue to improve that high-quality wool carpet product sourced from Ontario, would require minor genetic selection improvements and some on-farm management tweaks, but it’s already happening, she surmised.

The CWC’s recent Upholstery Plan identified that Quebec’s Bombardier controls 20 per cent of the global business jet market, which sees an average of 790 jets entering the global air portfolio annually. Each jet averages 19 seats that require two meters of material to upholster—positioning Ontario to fill the demand.

“We have a niche amount of wool in very high quality, and the private jet industry is a very finite controllable industry,” Underhill who authored the CWC report explained. “We take 1000 pounds of wool, which probably translates to 230 meters of upholstery. We can fit that in (our wool stocks).”

Canada’s commercial wool industry isn’t without roadblocks, including a lack of skilled labour, limited access to equipment and resources, wool consistency, and siloed operations lacking communication of needs between them.

But there is hope.

For example, Canada’s predominately family-owned commission mill industry creates opportunities for new ownership, said Underhill, if post-secondary institutions initiate training for high-capacity loom operation rather than solely teaching artisanal wool processing.

“If we are encouraging our colleges and universities to bring in education to run these types of mills,” she explained, “we’ll have whole new ownership coming into these family businesses, and then we can see that family retire completely rather than closing the business.”

She anticipates a high-powered loom will be in Ontario by the end of December, getting the province one step closer to positioning itself as an industry driver for wool.

“We’re going to make luxury quality products at luxury quality prices that are going to compensate you (producers),” Underhill said. “The mission remains to rebrand and revalue Canadian wool, to advocate for the domestic industry, and foster this demand for homegrown luxury.”

Underhill is working with experts to develop workshops to teach producers how to skirt and sort the wool clip and package them better into three-bag A, B, or C categories for blankets, upholstery, and outerwear marketing.

Half of Trillium’s producers participated in two fleecing workshops recently, leaving Carnaghan optimistic about increasing a return on wool.

“We’re okay with trying to educate ourselves in doing a better job on farm,” she explained. “It comes right down to management (and) keeping those sheep cleaner. Not just before shearing, but all the time, because you can’t undo dirty, right?”

Management changes will vary farm-to-farm depending on how the flock is housed or pastured, she said, but could be as simple as dot marking instead of full fleece spraying, changing bedding material, scrapping the yard, and feeding methods to limit chaff mixing in the fleece.

With decades of shearing under his belt, Don Metheral, Great Lakes Shearing Co, said he remembers when wool was worth more and pastured sheep fleece was cleaner.

Today’s producers have a more industrial approach, housing sheep indoors and straw bales being split open over sheep’s backs, he explained.

“A lot of the world buyers (are) not going to jump off the tree to Canada to buy wool,” Metheral said. “They’re going straight to New Zealand, Australia, and places where they keep the wool really clean.”

He’s willing to advise producers on improving shearing workflow or fleece cleanliness and quality if they’re ready to listen.

The cleaner the wool, the lower the waste, he explained.

Wool without debris washes easily and can provide a 75 per cent return on fibre weight, while dirty wool can see upwards of a 45 to 50 per cent loss in his experience.

“Farmers know that we produce mostly meat sheep here. They don’t produce a prime fleece wool, not like New Zealand or Australia,” he said. “But like Jane was saying, there are select areas where we can park that wool in the industry in the world, or even domestically.”

Of the half-a-dozen farms at the Trilliums workshop, Carnaghan anticipates half will buy in and have their wool tested for Underhill to market. However, others need on-farm labour to invest in skirting and separating during shearing and help change on-farm management systems to improve wool cleanliness.

“We’ve been trained for decades now, incrementally, our wool is worth less and less and less, and it’s not just going to be overnight that it’s worth a whole bunch again,” she said. “It doesn’t work that way. So as a producer, if you want to start making more for your wool, you’re going to have to put some time into it.”

With a large flock and time still ahead of them in the industry, she’s optimistic offsetting the cost of shearing by half with wool sales is possible, and maybe one day, they will break even.

“She (Jane) is so passionate about the product, the industry, and its potential,” Carnaghan enthused.

“She is so confident in her contacts and their genuine want and desire for Canadian wool that I just can’t turn my back on it. I need to be part of it.”

*Updates: clarification on practices and partnerships was provided by The Campaign for Wool in Canada.

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“Europe has a lot of the big fashion labels; they’re the ones that set the trend,” said Jane Underhill from Campaign for Wool. “I think that their investment in Europe is significant and that influences decision-making on a legislative level.”

Why it matters: The environmental footprint system is said to unfairly assess natural fibres against synthetics because it fails to measure microplastics, plastic waste impact or rate renewability and biodegradability.

At the request of the International Wool Textile Organization (IWTO), Canadian sheep producers have put their weight behind the Make the Label Count campaign, an international coalition focused on ensuring credible clothing sustainability claims in the European Union.

“The European Union is shifting to a climate-neutral and circular economy, which means products need to be more energy-efficient, durable, reusable, repairable and recyclable,” said the Make the Label Count website.

The European Council recognizes the fashion and textile industry has a significant environmental footprint and is reviewing sustainability claims for apparel and footwear. It is considering mandatory sustainability labelling for products to substantiate environmental footprint claims.

“Giving consumers the full picture is crucial to making sustainable buying decisions and avoiding corporate greenwashing,” said Matthew Rowe, Canadian Wool Council CEO.

The IWTO is an influential global wool industry organization, and this is the first time Canada has garnered a seat at the table, said Underhill.

“We have jumped on to the international stage to bring a spotlight over to Canadian wool,” said Underhill, who also serves as IWTO deputy head of delegation for Canada. “Canadian wool is among the best wool in the world. We were under the myth that it was worth nothing, and our studies have found the exact opposite. We actually have a brilliant quality of wool here.”

Underhill said a few low-cost or no-cost on-farm tweaks for fleece care could elevate a relatively ignored Canadian commodity into a new class, challenging any other wool nation.

Make the Label Count says that the environmental footprint system doesn’t properly compare natural and synthetic fibres.

There are six sustainability claims on clothing labels for which Make the Label Count is lobbying. They alert consumers to the renewability and biodegradability of a product.

In addition, the campaign intends to provide a fair comparison of fibres, longevity of material, social impacts, production practices and account for microplastics.

Underhill said an all-or-nothing approach to natural fibres as a replacement for synthetics isn’t the goal because there are challenges around processing capacity and production-level colour, texture and price point.

In contrast, synthetic fibre is durable, inexpensive and provides a consistent colour and texture.

However, as a petrochemical product, synthetic fibre carries a high environmental and sustainability cost, whereas wool is sustainable, lasts decades, requires less care to maintain and is 100 per cent biodegradable, said Underhill.

“We really have a job of educating the consumer in what it means to buy a wool sweater, as opposed to a synthetic sweater,” said Underhill. “(PEFs) only look up until the point where it (fibre) becomes a textile – what’s the environmental footprint of that? They’re not looking at the life cycle of the fibre, what it means in the consumer’s hands and what it means in the landfill site when we’re done with it.”

Underhill said data from academic studies on the sustainability of wool and its return on investment aren’t shared with consumers who buy natural fibre garments and textiles.

For example, she said wool is 100 per cent biodegradable in water and not harmful to humans or marine life, unlike synthetic fibres, which remain a pollutant at a microscopic level.

Wool is also a natural and marine-safe candidate for sequestering oil spills due to its ability to hold 10 times its weight in oil.

Canadian wool fits into manufacturing luxury tufted or woven carpets and braided rugs, said Underhill. Its natural wear resistance, insulation properties, fire retardant rating, comfort and hygienic properties lend themselves to expansion into the transportation industry, in such things as vehicle carpeting and seating material.

Jenn MacTavish, Ontario Sheep Farmer executive director, said there’s a ripple effect when EU policies and public opinion affect policy and programs in Canada.

“When these discussions happen in other jurisdictions, it’s important for us to be aware because it could influence policies here,” she said.

“It’s a call to action for our industry to emphasize wool and its benefits and make people more aware of it. And it should inform the decisions we make around lobbying and policy decisions.”

Several years ago, OSF initiated strategies to promote the environmental and sustainability benefits of grazing livestock and wool.

“We’ve done governmental communications on the renewability, biodegradability and versatility of wool,” she said. “There’s not much it can’t do.”

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Jane Underhill, Canada’s International Wool Trade Organization (IWTO) deputy head of delegation, said wool produced in Canada is on par with that of Germany, one of the world’s top producers of wool blankets.

“We have the same breeds here,” she said. “I think we have one million sheep, and Germany has about 1.4 million sheep. They have the same transformation and scouring issues. It’s an identical industry, yet they have managed to be the world’s top producer of wool blankets.”

Why it matters: Canadian shepherds mistakenly believe meat-breed wool is worthless but it may be ideal for carpeting and other uses.

“We believe Canadian wool is ideal for carpet fibre, or interiors and housewares,” said Underhill. “We can do more with our fibre in that sector than we can with clothing unless you’re talking about artisanal knitting.”

Underhill said the response was surprising when a pitch was made to Havelock Wool, a United States company, to set up a satellite facility and use Canadian wool for insulation production.

“When they found out our micron range is 28, they said no, your wool is too good a quality,” she said.

Jenn MacTavish, Ontario Sheep Farmers executive director, said the trend of hand-creating fleece-to-fibre clothing and textiles was gaining steam before the pandemic and artisanal wool demand has skyrocketed in the last two years.

“There’s a resurgence in people wanting to create their own clothing. It’s like the slow food movement, only a slow clothing movement,” said MacTavish.

Revolution Wool and Topsy Farms are Ontario producers that have successfully marketed and showcased the quality, versatility, environmental and health benefits of their flocks’ fibre to consumers, she added.

Relationships the two ventures have cultivated through their online presence satisfy consumers’ need to feel connected to where their materials are coming from, MacTavish said.

Underhill said the key is not to get stuck in the all-or-nothing mindset that vacillates between the mini-mill or macro enterprise and mass industrial production. Focus on the middle ground, she advises.

Canada doesn’t have semi-light industrial processing capacity to scour massive amounts of wool each day.

“We have a scouring facility in Ontario; they have two machines. One has a 2,500-kilogram capacity per day, and one has 5,000 kilograms per day,” she said. “(The latter) is a great size for Canada. That’s exactly what we need.”

The Campaign for Wool’s 2021 to 2026 Canadian Wool Industry strategic plan outlines five obstacles to a thriving national wool industry and includes several ways to achieve success.

“The key strategic initiatives are to rebrand and revalue Canadian wool, to advocate for the domestic industry and to shine a light on Canadian wool on a global stage,” said Underhill. “We have 10 tactics we’re working on regularly to relieve those five bottlenecks around education, outreach, brokerage, infrastructure and branded products.”

Once it devises a way to pay farmers fairly for their wool and get it into the pipeline, the challenge for the industry is to access mid-sized and scaled infrastructure to transform raw product into a saleable commodity.

Underhill has written a plan that outlines social benefits within the manufacturing chain. It involves a redistribution of profit from luxury carpet sales to ensure everyone, including farmers, is paid fairly.

The plan was well received in Greenland at the North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool Conference in July and will be pitched at the International Wool Trade Conference (IWTC) in China this fall, said Underhill.

“Farmers are feeling the pinch, and if OSF, the Canadian Wool Council and the Campaign for Wool can increase the attention and returns on wool, it can only help producers diversify,” said MacTavish.

Underhill is also crafting an upholstery plan aimed at the transportation market to provide airline and train seat covers at an appealing price point.

Canada has skilled trades and manufacturing opportunities for wool, including Filature Lemieux Spinning in the Beauce region of Quebec.

Lemieux has a global reputation for its luxury carpets and blankets. Traditionally the company sourced its wool solely from Britain and New Zealand but has added Canadian suppliers in the last year or so.

The textile industry has overlooked the quality and availability of meat-breed fleece of Ontario, Quebec and Alberta flocks, said Underhill, but that’s slowly changing.

She is optimistic that Canada could become North America’s wool transformation epicentre, especially as the Beauce region considers building a mid-size scouring operation.

Underhill said there’s potential to integrate traditional fibre knowledge and the natural fibre experience of displaced Ukrainians, Syrians and Canadian newcomers and meld that into a contemporary wool manufacturing industry.

“Ukraine used to be a terrific place for wool transformation,” she said. “Is anybody coming to Canada with those skills and knowledge, and can we use their expertise to help revitalize this industry?”

Educating shearers

Underhill said it is challenging to ensure Canada’s wool retains its value when harvested. While Canadian meat-breed sheep shearers are skilled, most lack the knowledge to evaluate the wool and correctly identify garment-quality fibre.

“(Teaching) people how to shear for the value of the wool ensures the wool comes off the animal in a way that maintains the value,” said Underhill. Unless an animal is sheared in one smooth motion, the smaller second cut fibres jam up the carding process.

The Campaign for Wool and the Canadian Wool Council are crafting a nationally standardized shearing certification program focused on assessing fleece and shearing for the textile sector.

A secondary benefit would be an influx of qualified shears who will service specialized flocks of 30 or fewer because those producers struggle to secure shearing times.

Finally, there is a producer education element to lower the percentage of wool contamination, which accounts for a 40 per cent loss in usable wool weight.

Low- to no-cost adjustments in on-farm sheep management could significantly lower the presence of manure, mud, urine, chaff, hay or other foreign objects, said Underhill.

Lower contaminant levels would improve fibre value through volume increases.

While it might not immediately increase the per-kilogram price of raw wool, producers with low contamination could command higher prices, Underhill said.

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Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) announced the funding in late February, linking the money to development of environmentally sustainable textiles.

Why it matters: Meat rather than wool is the main focus of Canada’s sheep sector but the Canadian Wool Council would like to see wool play a larger role.

“The demand for natural and environmentally friendly products continues to grow,” said Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. “By promoting the benefits of locally made, sustainable and biodegradable wool products, this initiative will help the Canadian wool industry tap into markets both domestically and around the world.”

The money is earmarked for market research, exploration of trade opportunities, establishing a foothold for sustainable farm practices and boosting public awareness of the sector. 

The announcement was also linked to objectives set out in the council’s “Carpet Plan.” It laid out three major goals for the sector from 2021-26: rebranding; putting new effort into wool marketing; and enhancing the reputation of Canadian wool. The plan also included goals to increase marketing options for farmers and improve wool-processing capabilities.

Matthew Rowe, CEO of the Canadian Wool Council, said the future of the wool value chain must shift toward manufacturing value-added products so it is not at the mercy of the global commodities market.

Rowe said the sector lacks access to large-scale scouring, the cleaning process for raw wool.

“We’re looking at all kinds of options, including opening up a partnership with a scouring mill in the United Kingdom, which has the capacity to process in a week what all of Canada produces in a year.” 

That short-term solution would then help the council build the case for the wool market, he said.

“I think a lot of people have it backward. They think the problem to the scouring backlog is to build a scouring plant, and while it’s only about $6 million, that’s not an insignificant amount of money, and if you’re going to invest $6 million in a plant, you want to know that you have an end product for that wool and you’re not just selling into the commodities market.”

Medium- or coarse-quality wool would suit the carpeting market. There are also opportunities in fashion, said Rowe, and other possibilities include industrial felts, filtration and packaging.

“There’s a lot of really high-end, high-value products where medium-coarse wool is a perfect fit,” he said. 

The pandemic affected the entire textile industry, making 2020 a difficult year. The Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers (CCWG) reported a significant market downturn in that year as surpluses built up.

This was not of great concern, given wool income’s generally minor role in the sector, which focuses on meat. Wool income is more commonly considered as cost recovery for the $5-per-head cost of shearing, a necessary process for animal wellness.

“We think that the way wool has been treated in this country in the last few decades is a tragedy,” Rowe said.

“We think it’s a huge wasted opportunity, and the fact that farmers feel that their only option is to bury or burn or hide their wool rather than turn it into valuable products shows that there’s a broken system. That’s what we’re hoping to fix.”

Much of the wool council’s focus is on Eastern Canada, particularly Ontario and Quebec, where the sheep sector is larger. 

– This article was originally published at the Manitoba Co-operator.

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