Wool Judging

Fine wool breeds

Rambouillet, merino

Crossbred (fine x medium) wool breeds

Targhee, corriedale, columbia

Medium (fine x long) wool breeds

Suffolk, hampshire, dorset, cheviot, montadale, southdown, shropshire, tunis, polypay

Long (coarse) wool breeds

Romney, border leicester, lincoln, cotswold

Carpet (double coated) wool breeds

Scottish, blackface, karakul, icelandic

Hair breeds

Katahdin, dorper, barbado

Fleece

the wool from one sheep

Grease or raw wool

wool as it is shorn from the sheep

Scouring

cleaning of fleece

Clip

amount of wool shorn from the sheep in one flock

Fineness

fiber diameter, the finer the fiber the more valuable

Head and belly wool

lowest quality

Further back and down

coarser wool

Crimp

natural waviness or curl in wool fiber, finer wool has more crimp per inch

Staple

refers to length of an unstretched lock of shorn wool, coarser wools are usually longer than finer wools

Vegetable matter (VM)

any material of plant origin found in the fleece, high VM lowers yeild

Tag

wool with manure attached to it

Lanoline

a natural oil extracted from sheeps wool

Skirting

removing stained unusable or undesirable portions of fleece, show fleeces and high value fleeces should be skirted at the time of shearing

Yield

amount of clean wool that remains after scouring, expressed as a percentage, long or bulky fleeces have higher yeilds

Length

look for uniformity, length adds weight

Fineness

appropriate grade for breed or type, uniformity of fineness

Soundness

do not want wool to break, due to poor nutrition or sickness

Purity

free of pigmented fibers

Character

general appearance

Tippy wool

decent two thirds of the way along staple, bad for the end third of the staple, due to weathering

placing priorities (breeding Classes)

Raw Grease Fleece weight

placing priorities (breeding Classes)

Character

placing priorities (breeding Classes)

Breed indicative

placing priorities (breeding Classes)

staple length

placing priorities (breeding Classes)

Fiber diameter

placing priorities (breeding Classes)

Uniformity of grade and staple

placing priorities (breeding Classes)

Fiber strength and yield doent’t matter

placing priorities (Commercial Classes)

Raw grease weight

placing priorities (Commercial Classes)

Yield

placing priorities (Commercial Classes)

Pounds of clean wool

placing priorities (Commercial Classes)

staple length

placing priorities (Commercial Classes)

Fiber diameter

placing priorities (Commercial Classes)

uniformity of grade and staple

placing priorities (Commercial Classes)

character

placing priorities (Commercial Classes)

Fiber strength is critical- A break goes last

Merino

bold,distinct crimp

Rambouillet

Tight, distinct crimp

Columbia

Bold, distinct crimp

Targee

Rambouillet crossed with Colombian

Corredale

Lincoln crossed with merino

Finess

Thickness of wool fiber

Staple length

Length of an unstretched lock of wool

Quality

should fall clearly to one type of finesse

soundness

Fiber should be strong all the way through with no breaks