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217 Today: Wool prices are so low, Midwest sheep producers have to find new uses – or raise sheep without it

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Sheep are moved at the Cory Family Farm near Elkhart, Iowa, in preparation for shearing. While it's essential to shear most sheep annually, the wool is worth far less money today, biting into producers' bottom line.
  • Photo: Rachel Cramer / Harvest Public Media

Friday, May 3, 2024

Today’s headlines:

  • About 100 people joined a labor rally at the Illini Union in Urbana on Thursday.
  • It’s an annual Springfield ceremony no one looks forward to – memorializing police officers who died in the line of duty.
  • Between 2018 and 2022, Tyson Foods released more than 370 million pounds of pollution.
  • Illinois voters could be asked about in vitro fertilization and a millionaire’s tax on this November’s ballot.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn how some sheep producers are pivoting as wool prices drop.

217 Today is produced by Stephanie Mosqueda. Reporting today contributed by Emily Hays, Alex Degman Eric Schmid and Rachel Cramer.

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Stephanie Mosqueda

Stephanie Mosqueda is a senior majoring in journalism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with minors in Spanish and public relations. She is the 217 Today producer and a reporter for the Illinois Student Newsroom.