By Alex DePillis, VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets
(Pictured) - Trials of raw wool using a small, tractor-driven pellet mill (left), and resulting pellets to be used as 9-0-2 fertilizer.
Ever heard of a “two-for-one” special? The Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Vermont Extension and the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets debuted a new fertilizer that could be a “three-for-one”: a market for wool, a fertilizer for farmers, and new revenue for a manufacturer who’s willing to step forward.
(Pictured) Chris Brooks of Vermont Wood Pellet inspects sheep wool pellets made the prior day.
By compressing low-grade wool into small pellets like wood pellets made for wood-pellet stoves, entrepreneurs are creating a fertilizer with an NPK (nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium) profile of 9-0-2 from raw wool that would otherwise go to waste. UVM Extension’s Kimberly Hagen pulled together funds to purchase a shipment of pellets from Utah manufacturer, Wild Valley Farms, to trial on four Vermont vegetable farms, and arranged for Wild Valley Farms to come to Vermont for a visit. Wild Valley Farms have 2,500 sheep on their ranch and are selling so many fertilizer pellets that they’re seeking a partner to expand operations in the East.
So far, vegetable growers like the product. UVM Extension will be publishing results this winter.