UK farmers turn to genetics as demand for wool plummets

It's a pastoral scene that's familiar the world over; rolling hills dotted with sheep, their woollen coats thickening up ready for shearing. But all this could be about to change. If UK sheep farmers get their way, the sheep of the future could look very different.

The sale of wool used to be a burgeoning business but with demand for wool at an all-time low, some farmers are turning to the science of genetics to get ahead of the game. They're breeding a new type of sheep, one that sheds its own wool, in much the same way that a dog moults in the summer.

Exlana sheep – Latin for "without wool" – are specifically bred for their wool-shedding ability. It costs farmers around 10 dollars per ewe to maintain a fleece and to shear it. And these days, the wool is sold for cents. The days of the wool trade dominating international markets are well and truly over, and the new wool-shedding sheep are cheaper and easier to look after. Sheep breeder Peter Baber explains:

"If you sit down with a blank sheet of paper, and design the sheep of the future, it won't have wool," he told CGTN.

But it's not just the financial benefit. There are wellbeing benefits to Exlana sheep too. Farmers don't need to dock their tails and they don't need to spray them with expensive and itchy chemicals, traditionally used to protect their fleece from infestations.

And it doesn't stop at wool. Exlana sheep have also been bred to give birth on their own.  And without the help from humans. No time consuming lambing for farmers.

Devon sheep farmer Bill Geen says, this is a game-changer.

"They should be able to lamb on their own, the lambs need to be born easily, shake their head, jump up and start suckling the mother and the mother has enough milk for two lambs."

Genetically modifying sheep is big business. Breed for Change is an organization that tests methane emissions from sheep - sheep burps … so farmers can breed from the ones that burp the least. And reducing methane emissions can only be good for the environment. 

"When we look at some of the traits like methane or efficiency of things, we can't judge that just by looking at the animal," says geneticist Janet Roden from Innovis. "We need the data and the science to help us identify the animals that have got the best genetics."

Some question the morality of genetically modifying our animals.  But it's nothing new. According to Sam Boon from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, science and farming have been working hand in hand for generations.

"We've been involved in natural selection for hundreds of years. Darwin, when he wrote, was observing differences when breeding pigeons and dogs and cats and the modern livestock we have today. So there's so much variation within a species, you can bring about tremendous change, selecting in that manner."

And it's that change that's inspiring today's sheep farmers. They say, with margins so tight and farming precarious, the sheep of tomorrow could be very different.