We were milking sheep at that time. I do not know if you have covered any of the sheep sheep in New Zealand, I will save you the discomfort of investigating that, essentially becomes custard.
We were doing that and part of taking care of about 1500 sheep at that time is that they need to be stripped. The sheep for milking do not have high quality wool, and for most of the New Zealand wool, there is simply not much market for it. It is not worth enough to sell it, it does not even cover the cost of shear.
So we were looking for ways in which we could use all this wool we had. I was already using wool in my own garden, around fruit trees and in the gardens and things of veget. It is one of those things that people have used on farms for years, have sought ways to use waste resources such as that.
After a couple of seasons to use it ourselves and notice what difference does, I thought: “It’s okay, how can we turn this into something that is a little easier to use for people who do not have 1500 sheep at their back door?”
Why are they good for your garden?
We use unwashed wool, so this is how welcoming crops are quite different from the other wool products that you will see in the market. You have a mixture of the DAG and the clean wool to obtain the manure, essentially, which offers all fertilizer components.
Wool itself clings to moisture about 25 times its weight. When mixing that at the top of the ground or on the ground, it keeps moisture inside and around all its crops, plants, vegetables and things that you are growing. Therefore, it reduces the loss of soil water, but also the amount it really has to water it.
Then, in terms of soil structure, as wool decomposes over time, it brings nutrients to the ground. Things like nitrogen, mainly, but also help open the soil structure, so, instead of obtaining gardens really compressed over time, it helps to air it and allows all worms and insects to also open their way through the ground.
It also helps keep slugs and snails away. Once the wool crosses the palletizer, it breaks quite well and does not like to be crawled in the pointed fibers of the wool.
How are the granules?
All production for welcoming crops is done on the farm in ōtorohaga, we have about 85 hectares. Therefore, everything is 100% internal, of origin, made, packaged, everything. Taking the pelletization machine to the country was relatively easy, but it was definitely more an art to produce a pellet than we realized. We think, you know, you simply throw some wool and you have it.
There is a little art to do well and obtain the correct formulation of the cleanest wool to silly wool. On the website, we have all nutrient profiles, and that is an average in the product range.
How big is the problem of wool?
Quite. If you talk to any sheep farmer, they will have a bit of wool that will only be wasted. They may be selling it, but they are selling it with a loss of what it costs to cut. Many sheep breeders are really making it difficult, the cost of raising animals compared to what you get, it is not even a balance exercise for many of them at this time.
It depends on the type of sheep you have. If you have high quality Merino sheep, they will reach a better price for their wool, but for most people who only raise sheep for milk or meat, that wool is quite useless, so everything is considered waste. Many people are simply putting it in a well, some people are trying to extend it in pastures to try to improve soil quality, but for many people, they are only stacked in a barn somewhere.
What would be your advice for other budding entrepreneurs who want to start your own business?
Do it. I think everyone always has that fear, will everyone think it’s a silly idea? Are you going to fail? We also had that fear, thinking: “Oh God, will people really buy wool manure and sheep in a box?”
Sometimes with those silly ideas, it is worth trying even on a small scale to see if it is commercially viable and then simply run with it.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for The Herald, which covers small and retail companies.