THEY’RE JUST VERY INSTINCTUAL CREATURES. FRIENDLY AND GOOFY. BUT THERE’S MUCH MORE TO WOOL THAN JUST SWEATERS AND HATS. WOLVES HEYDAY MAY HAVE COME AND GONE. MY GREAT GRANDFATHER SOLD WOOL BY THE MILLIONS OF POUNDS. AND NOW I SELL WOOL BY THE POUND. BUT MANY NEW ENGLANDERS ARE HOPING FOR A RENAISSANCE. IF YOU WERE DESIGNING A PERFECT FIBER, IT’S GOING TO BE PRETTY CLOSE TO WOOL FROM SHEARING SHEEP TO PROCESSING WOOL AND FINDING USES FOR EVERY PRECIOUS PIECE, PEOPLE ARE THROWING WOOL AWAY BECAUSE THEY CAN’T MAKE SWEATERS OUT OF IT. TONIGHT, SOME OF THE PEOPLE THE BUSINESS IS AND THE SHEEP WHO ARE PRODUCING NEW ENGLAND’S WOOL. THIS IS CHRONICLE ON WCVB CHANNEL FIVE. SPRING FLOWERS ARE BLOOMING, BUDS ARE APPEARING ON TREES AND FOR LOCAL SHEEP, IT’S TIME FOR A HAIRCUT. THAT JUST KEEPS GROWING. IF YOU DIDN’T CUT YOUR HAIR AND COMB IT AND DO EVERYTHING, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE A MESS? RYAN MASON HAS HIS OWN SHEEP FARM IN OAKHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, BUT TODAY WE MEET HIM AT A SHEEP SHEARING JOB AT BECKET FARMS IN GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT. MASON TRAVELS THROUGHOUT NEW ENGLAND AND THE MID-ATLANTIC, SHEARING SHEEP. HE EXPLAINS THAT THERE’S A VERY SPECIFIC TECHNIQUE, THE PATTERN THAT WE DO THIS YEAR AND THAT WAS DESIGNED IN NEW ZEALAND, WHERE THEY HAVE MILLIONS OF SHEEP. THE FOOTWORK IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THAT’S HOW YOU CONTROL THE SHEEP. THE RIGHT HAND RUNS THE SHEARS, THE LEFT HAND KEEPS THE SKIN TIGHT. SO YOU’RE ACTUALLY MOVING THE SHEEP AND HOLDING IT WITH YOUR FEET AND YOUR KNEES. MASON GREW UP ON A DAIRY FARM WITH 100 SHEEP AND HAS BEEN SHEARING FOR DECADES, AS HE HAD PLANNED TO SHEAR ANOTHER HERD OF SHEEP HERE TODAY. BUT WEATHER INTERFERED. THE SHEEP WERE CAUGHT IN A RAIN SHOWER AND CAN’T BE SHORN WHEN THEY’RE WET, BECAUSE THE WOOL DRIES OUT FASTER ON THE SHEEP THAN IT WILL IF YOU TAKE IT OFF. SHEARING IS NECESSARY FOR ALMOST ALL SHEEP LEFT ON SHAUN WOOL WON’T STOP GROWING IN AUSTRALIA, THE FLEECE OF A WILD SHEEP BECAME SO OVERGROWN THAT HE COULDN’T SEE. RESCUERS REMOVED ABOUT 77 POUNDS. MASON SAYS THE ANIMALS MIGHT NOT LOVE THE PROCESS, BUT IT DOESN’T HARM THEM. IF YOU TURN THESE OUT ONTO GRASS RIGHT NOW, THEY WOULD BE SKIPPING LIKE SPRING LAMBS BECAUSE THEY’RE 10 POUNDS LIGHTER. THEY DON’T HAVE THAT FLEECE ON THEM. SO THERE IT GOES. THE FASTER IT GOES AND THE LESS STRESS IT IS ON THE SHEEP. AT PETERSON FARM ON CAPE COD, GETTING THE SHEEP SHORN WASN’T AN ISSUE. IT WAS WHAT TO DO WITH THE WOOL AFTERWARD. IF SOMEONE WOULD HAVE COME TO US ON SHEARING DAY AND BEEN WILLING TO PROBABLY TAKE THE WOOL FOR HALF OF WHAT IT COSTS US TO COME OFF THE SHEEP, I WOULD HAVE SOLD IT TO HIM IN A HEARTBEAT. THAT CHANGED IN THE SPRING OF 2023. WE’LL EXPLAIN HOW IN A MINUTE. FIRST, THE UNLIKELY STORY OF HOW DIANA WHITMAN AND SIMON THOROLD BECAME THE SHEPHERDS OF THIS FLOCK AND FALMOUTH FOR THEM, SHEEP REARING IS ACTUALLY A SIDE JOB. SO I’M A SCIENTIST IN THE BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT THE WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION. I WORK WITH UNDERWATER ROBOTICS FOR THE WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION. THE TWO POINT TO THEIR DOGS FOR GETTING THEM INTO SHEEP FARMING. THE FARMS PREVIOUS SHEPHERD FIRST SAW WHITMAN OUT WALKING HER BORDER COLLIE IN 2011 AND SHE SAID, WELL, HOW’S YOUR DOG ON SHEEP? AND I SAID, I DON’T KNOW. AND SHE SAID, DO YOU WANT TO FIND OUT? AND I SAID, YEAH, THAT’D BE A LOT OF FUN. SHE GRABBED MY HAND AND MY DOG AND DRAGGED ME INTO THE SHEEP PASTURES WITH HER SHEEP. WHITMAN SOON ADDED ANOTHER DOG TO THE PACK, ABEL, AND THEY STARTED HERDING SHEEP AFTER THE PREVIOUS SHEPHERD MOVED AWAY, TAKING HER SHEEP WITH HER, WHITMAN RAN INTO THOROLD ON A WALK WITH HIS BORDER COLLIE. IT ONLY TOOK A SHORT CONVERSATION BEFORE THE TWO DECIDED TO ACQUIRE THEIR OWN HERD. I GREW UP ON A FARM IN NEW ZEALAND. THIS WAS KIND OF LIKE A LITTLE BIT RETURNING TO MY ROOTS. UM, I HAD THE BORDER COLLIE AND IT’S KIND OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE. AND SO YOU GIVE A KIWI A BORDER COLLIE AND THEN HE’S GOING TO WANT SHEEP. AND IT’S THE WEIRDEST THING. BUT IT SEEMED A LOGICAL THING TO DO AT THE TIME. THAT WAS 2018. FOR THE FIRST FEW YEARS, THOROLD AND WHITMAN DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THE WOOL THAT CAME OFF THEIR SHEEP, AND USUALLY ENDED UP TURNING IT INTO COMPOST. IN 2023, THEY MET AMY DEFAULT. THE LEAD ORGANIZER FOR THE SOUTHEASTERN NEW ENGLAND FIBER SHED, THE NONPROFIT THAT IS FOCUSED ON ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND REGIONAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTILES. I FEEL LIKE I’M THE SWITCHBOARD OPERATOR FOR MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND CONNECTING FARMERS TO FINISH PRODUCT DEFAULT CONNECTED THE SHEPHERDS WITH AMANDA QALAQIS IN HER SMALL BUSINESS, COASTAL WOOL WASHING. WHEN WE WASH IT, WE YOU GET THE WATER UP TO 140 DEGREES SALAKAS TAKES FLEECE FRESH OFF THE SHEEP AND CLEANS IT. IT’S LIKE MAGIC. YOU PUT THIS DIRTY, STINKY, GREASY FLEECE IN THE WATER AND YOU DO STUFF AND THEN IT COMES OUT BEAUTIFUL AND PRISTINE AND YOU CAN MAKE PRETTY THINGS WITH IT. AND ONCE AMANDA GOT AHOLD OF THE WOOL AND WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT IT, WE REALIZED WE HAD BEEN WASTING YOU KNOW, PRECIOUS WOOL. I WAS ECSTATIC, I WON, I WAS LIKE, I DON’T WANT TO SEND THIS BACK. I THINK WE ALL FEEL WITH WOOL. IT’S REALLY A CHANCE TO REINTRODUCE IT TO THE PEOPLE BECAUSE IT’S IT’S SUCH A FABULOUS FIBER. RIGHT. ONE OF THE PROBLEMS WITH WOOL IS IT DOESN’T BRING IN A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY, AND IT’S EXPENSIVE TO SEND IT OUT TO BE PROCESSED. SO SIMON AND DIANA SAY FINDING AMANDA WAS A HUGE HELP, I’M SURE. AND BACK TO SHEEP SHARE BRIAN MASON. HE SAYS IN THAT PROFESSION, EXPERIENCE IS KEY. THE FIRST TIME HE TRIED TO SHEAR A SHEEP, IT TOOK HIM A HALF A DAY. NOW HE CAN DO IT IN JUST FIVE MINUTES. SHEEP GROW BETWEEN 8 TO 10 POUNDS OF WOOL A YEAR. LET’S FEEL GOOD WHEN YOU GET