Peter McGlynn is turning sheep’s wool into manure in Kilcullen, Co Kildare.

While sheep’s wool is now a low-value product for farmers, Peter McGlynn of Larkfield Pellet Products thinks he has found a way to increase the value of the product by mixing it with mushroom compost and different manures to become a pellet fertiliser.

The mushroom compost and sheep’s wool pellet was analysed and it was found that the mix contained 10.6% nitrogen and greater than 50% organic matter content.

It was found that mixing the sheep’s wool with both cattle and horse manures increased this value.

Peter’s organic wool compost helps increase soil porosity and aeration, which also promotes stronger roots.

Wool can be mixed with dried animal manures and pelleted. Pelleting increases the bulk density of the product, as well as reducing transport, storage and application costs, according to Peter.

The idea to turn sheep’s wool into manure began when Peter was working in the US, looking at feed products for sheep.

The sheep were wasting feed and, after some research, Peter came across the pelleting process, which would reduce the feed being wasted, while also making the hay easier to digest for the sheep.

Mill

Upon returning to Ireland, Peter decided to purchase a pellet mill. This enabled him to process animal manure into organic fertiliser.

Peter has carried out extensive research in the area and found that, in Australia, pelleted compost on triticale at a rate of 150kg per hectare resulted in a 30% increase in yields. The pelleted compost was incorporated with the seeds.

Peter has mixed sheep’s wool with mushroom compost and cattle and horse manure, as the wool makes a firmer pellet, which makes it more suitable for broadcasting.

At the moment, Peter is filling orders as they come in and mainly supplies gardens and the horticultural industry, but needs further investment to produce the fertiliser on a larger scale for farmers. He hopes to be able to pay farmers €1/kg for their wool.