TOP SIRE 2026–2027 INDUSTRY NEWS NEW RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS WOOL’S NATURAL ADVANTAGE Recent research on biogenic carbon flows is reshaping how the environmental footprint of wool production is assessed. Traditionally, life cycle assessments (LCAs) of livestock industries have focused almost entirely on greenhouse gas emissions, in particular methane from sheep flocks. However, emerging science around biogenic carbon flows is illustrating a more balanced and accurate picture of carbon dynamics within grazing systems, particularly for Merino wool enterprises, and the benefits are surprising. Biogenic carbon refers to carbon that cycles naturally through plants, animals, soil and the atmosphere. In a grazing wool enterprise, sheep consume pasture that has captured carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, which then moves through the animal and is returned to the system via manure, respiration, methane emissions, soil organic matter and in the wool fibre itself. Unlike fossil carbon from coal, oil or gas, this carbon is part of a continuous natural cycle rather than an additional input to the atmosphere. New research, published in Agricultural Systems in March 2026, provides new framework that challenges the current emissions-only approach to environmental impact. Applying the ISO 14067:2018 standard, which specifically recognises the difference between fossil-based and biogenic carbon, researchers re-estimated carbon footprints from six representative Australian wool enterprises to include biogenic factors and measure these flows more accurately. The research, written by James Blignaut, Paul Swan and Lemuel Blignaut, demonstrated that when biogenic carbon cycling is included in environmental accounting, the carbon intensity of wool production is significantly reduced compared with conventional emission-only models. Depending on farm systems and assumptions around manure and soil carbon retention, the estimated footprint of wool production was reduced by between 35% to 100% in some case studies. This shift occurs because traditional assessments often ignored the large quantities of carbon returned to soils through grazing systems. Researchers found that more than half of the carbon consumed by wool sheep can be returned to the landscape via manure, contributing to soil health and carbon storage. Wellmanaged grazing systems can therefore play an important role in maintaining soil organic matter and supporting broader ecosystem functions. The wool fibre itself is also a form of carbon storage. Wool contains around 50% organic carbon by weight, effectively storing atmospheric carbon in a durable natural fibre until the product reaches the end of its life. As a renewable fibre that Unlike fossil carbon from coal, oil or gas, this carbon is part of a continuous natural cycle rather than an additional input to the atmosphere. – 16 –
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