Wool Pellets For Soil Health and Water Conservation

We are starting up our own wool shredding and pelleting operation called New Mexico Wool Works!

In 2026, we received a Healthy Food Financing Climate Smart Pre-Production Grant to undertake our project, Upcycling Waste Wool into Soil Amendments for Water Conservation and Healthy Soils in New Mexico. This grant will help us purchase equipment and set up infrastructure to begin wool shredding and pelleting as a service and to create soil amendment products for ourselves and other gardeners and farmers.

What is waste wool? Generally speaking waste wool is sheep wool that comes from parts of the animal that are considered dirty or of marginal value. For many sheep producers wool is a liability that costs them money to dispose of since the US wool market is at its lowest, paying between 2 – 5 cents per pound. Our waste wool pile also continues to grow.

In 2020 we began using waste wool experimentally. Our tests using it as a mulch and soil amendment showed that indeed it does work. It holds and slowly releases water into the soil while surrounding plants thrive as it biodegrades and slowly delivers fertility. However, in its raw state it is not ideal since the wind blows it around and its long, strong fibers get tangled up in our farm tools and machinery. This led us to ask how others were using it better. What we found was that shredding and pelletizing wool is the solution. The shredding process breaks the long fibers down and the pelleting process compresses it into a small, dense shape that is easy to handle and integrate into the soil or as mulch that will not get blown away by the wind.

Wool shredding and pelleting on small farms and ranches across the United States and Europe is growing and research is showing that using wool pellets as soil amendments reduces water usage, supports healthy soils, and increases plant yields.

In 2026, we will be setting up the equipment, learning how to run it, and testing wool pellets in our fields. By early 2027, we hope to be ready to take orders for processing waste wool on a first come first serve basis. We also plan to start selling wool pellets directly.

Sign up to get on our list and we will contact you once we are set up and ready to purchase wool, process your wool for you, and have wool pellets available for sale.