Soil Restoration Experiments in Australia using Sheep's Wool... [View all]

I couldn't copy anything so I'll do my best. From daily galaxy.
I've had a moderate interest in gardening; floral, and food for decades.

This is in Queensland, Australia.l They've been watching former farming areas get depleted. Have used synthetics for restoration, but they've expensive, and carry their own environmental costs.

Someone(s) came up with trying sheep's wool in aiding soil restoration. This is not your wool for making yarn, but the short fibers [the long fibers interlock better for creating yarns]. It seems this wool is a financial bother to get rid of by the sheep farmers.

The wool is made up of keratin and contains nitrogen, sulfur, carbon that are needed for soils, and crops. The keratin breaks down slowly, letting these nutrients stay in the ground longer; and longer than the synthetic applications which leach into groundwater relatively quickly.
They put down a layer a few centimeters thick.

There is a 35% increase in moisture retention. Wool can retain 1 1/2 to 2xs it's weight in moisture. This helps increase certain microorganisms that break down the keratin, among other things, and create real soil that roots can grow through.
It's tturned dusty areas that blow away in the winds into healthy soil again.

The wool has problems in clumping; so it's either being broken down into pellets that can be mixed into the ground, or made into a composite containing organic matter. These both help keep some holes in the soil as well, helping with air circulation. Turns out it's the only thing so far that promotes moisture retention, and aeriation.

There are now start ups doing wool recycling into these soil making applications; creating new jobs in rural areas.

Europe is now investing these methods.