wool

Wyoming has a long history of raising sheep and the state is known to produce high quality wool - and a lot of it. In the 2017 Census of Agriculture, Wyoming ranked number one in wool production with almost 2.8 million pounds shorn. The University of Wyoming sheep program is trying to build on that with the new Wyoming Wool Initiative.

Last year, the University of Wyoming Sheep Program launched the UW Blanket Project. They designed, created and sold limited edition blankets made from the wool of the UW sheep herd. Now, that program has become the Wyoming Wool Initiative and it's more than just blankets.

Wool that's produced in Wyoming is often sent out of state where it enters a worldwide market. Much of it is sent overseas for production. But one local business is trying to change that.

Wyoming's climate is known to produce fine wool, perfect for spinning into yarn and creating high-quality products. And the University of Wyoming's Department of Agriculture has its own herd of sheep to study that wool. This year, they're trying something new.

Wyoming has a long tradition of sheep ranching. The first flocks arrived with Mormon pioneers in the eighteen-eighties. By the early nineteen-hundreds…