AgriLife to offer two wool educational opportunities

Sheep shearing and wool classing instruction to be offered

Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu   

Contacts: Dr. Reid Redden, 325-653-4576, Reid.Redden@ag.tamu.edu  

Dr. Ronald Pope, 325-653-4576, Ronald.Pope@ag.tamu.edu    

SAN ANGELO – Applications are now being accepted for two wool production educational opportunities to be conducted by Texas A&M AgriLife Jan. 9-11 at San Angelo, coordinators said.

Sheep shearing and wool classing courses will be held at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center north of San Angelo on U.S. Highway 87.

“It’s important to note that the two courses overlap each other, so participants can attend one or the other but not both,” said Dr. Reid Redden, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state sheep and goat specialist at San Angelo. Redden is the Texas A&M AgriLife Sheep Shearing School coordinator.

Dr. Ronald Pope, Texas A&M AgriLife Research director of the Bill Sims Wool and Mohair Research Lab at the center, will coordinate the Certified Wool Classing School.

As the class sizes are limited due to the hands-on instruction, applications for both schools must be submitted by Dec. 4. Successful applicants will be notified by Dec. 14. Apply online at: http://agrilife.org/sheepandgoat/registration or by phone at 325-653-4576.   

Individual registration for the shearing school is $125 for Texas residents and $250 for non-residents. Students will receive a sheep shearing handbook and DVD.

Individual registration for the wool classing school is $125.

The minimum age for participating in either course is 16 years old. The coordinators stressed that the skills taught involve hard physical labor, therefore applicants should arrive willing to work, and should dress in proper working attire.   

The schools are collaborative efforts among AgriLife Extension, AgriLife Research, the American Sheep Industry Association and the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers’ Association.

“The shearing school will equip individuals with the fundamentals needed to become professional sheep shearers,” Redden said. “We are pulling in top instructors from across the nation in order to offer the best instruction possible.”

Redden said the curriculum will cover proper animal handling both on and off the shearing floor; animal selection, using and maintaining professional shearing equipment; and optimal wool handling and preparation.

“The wool sheep industry is dependent on trained, professional sheep shearers to harvest and prepare the wool clip each year,” Redden said. “In the past, Texas sheep and goat ranchers have been fortunate to have a readily available workforce to perform this service. Shearing and wool handling is hard work and individuals spend years apprenticing to become skilled at the trade. But as the wool industry diminishes, so have the number of large shearing crews with whom most shearers learned the trade. As a result, there is a shortage of skilled shearers and the problem is likely to worsen.

“To help alleviate this issue, AgriLife Extension and AgriLife Research are conducting the school in an effort to train individuals as sheep shearers.”

Pope said the classing course is meant to equip individuals with the basic knowledge to properly prepare and package wool for commercial marketing. The course will teach students how to prepare and package fleeces to meet the demands of wool processors to optimize grower return.

“Participants will be presented information on objective wool measurement techniques, wool biology, genetic selection for wool improvement, and proper packaging, labeling and record keeping,” Pope said.   

Redden and Pope can be reached at 325-653-4576 for further information.