Lower Yellowstone Wool Pool

The Lower Yellowstone Wool Pool has been a great asset to area producers for many years. In case you are not familiar with the reason for the existence of a pool, its sole purpose is to gather wool from area sheep producers in one central location, grade said wool, and then combine that wool with other producers’ wool to make a larger shipment. By combining these graded pools of wool together, instead of one person trying to market their product, there is now a greater amount of wool being marketed at one time. This process of combining and grading the wool will increase the amount of product that is marketed at one time, therefore ensuring a more consistent product and an increase in the price paid for the product.

The Lower Yellowstone Wool Pool was formed in the spring of 1987 for this reason. A group of local producers organized to aid in creating greater value for the wool they produce. Since the pool’s inception, many tons of wool has been gathered, graded, bagged, and combined with wool from pools across the state of Montana to be marketed.

If you have sheep and are interested in contributing to the Lower Yellowstone Wool Pool, you are welcome to bring your wool to the collection site on Wednesday, May 6th, beginning at 8:00 (MST) and lasting until about noon. The collection point will be in the old commercial building at the Richland County Fairgrounds. If you are interested in becoming part of the pool, but have more questions, you are welcome to contact Tim Fine at the Richland County Extension Office at 406-433-1206 or Wade VanEvery, Lower Yellowstone Wool Pool president.