Projects & Demonstrations

Shaniko Wool Company Carbon Initiative:  A Model Project in Measuring the Ecosystem Impacts of Ranching Practices

Since the late 1980s, the Carvers have been working on improving land stewardship in cooperation with their local agency partners inclusive of the Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District and the local NRCS office.  On their Imperial Stock Ranch (established 1871) located in north central Oregon near Shaniko, sheep, cattle, grain, and hay production have been continuous throughout their history.  They implemented a Conservation Management Plan in 1989, which has served as their guiding document and philosophy since.

The Carvers’ focus on resource stewardship became important in a new way beginning in 1999.  With the loss of traditional wool markets due to offshoring, they adapted and took their harvests of wool and lamb direct to consumers in value-added marketing.  They had been implementing their Conservation Management Plan for 10 years at that point and were observing many positive changes on the land.  They paired the products with their heritage and progressive agricultural practices, and it proved to be at the leading edge of the culture. 

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Fifteen years later, they provided their wool to Ralph Lauren for the Team USA uniforms at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.  Their conservation story has been linked to the provenance of the wool since they began this new marketing journey.  A year later Patagonia asked them to be 3^rd party audited for their land stewardship and animal welfare, under a new global certification program.  When the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) launched in 2016, their Imperial Stock Ranch became the first ranch in the world to be certified.  The comprehensive RWS has more than 270 criteria that must be met to achieve certification, and includes benchmarks for land, animal, and worker care.

With the increasing demand for certified wool in 2018 the Carvers launched Shaniko Wool Company to scale the supply of wool produced in the U.S. that meets this leading global standard.  Today Shaniko Wool Company includes 10 ranches (and growing) that collectively graze 2.6 million acres in the western U.S.  In early 2020, in response to the growing concern over ecosystem and climate impacts of food and fiber production, Shaniko Wool launched a new initiative–the Shaniko Wool Carbon Initiative.   Working with a team of range scientists from Oregon State University, Dr. John Talbott developed a comprehensive research and measurement model implemented beginning in the spring of 2020.   The purpose was to determine the ecosystem and climate impacts of each ranching operation with carbon as a key performance indicator, plus collateral benefits. 

As the soil organic carbon levels are increasing significantly over time, additional positive benefits include:

Increases in soil organic matter

Nutrient availability

Water infiltration and holding capacity

Systems biodiversity

Improved habitats

Resilience to weather extremes

Disease resistance

Jeanne Carver says, “Until now, we had our observations, yield data, resource agency testimony, field and species counts, and certification to third-party standards in support of our work.  However, as ranchers, we had never formally “measured” or quantified our ecosystem deliverables.  This work, giving us information we never had before, is a tool to influence future management and practices and supports an increased value of our harvest in markets.  Importantly, it provides us with the data needed to potentially enter emerging ecosystem markets – an entirely new income stream.”

The Shaniko Wool Carbon Initiative includes third-party verification of:                                                        

• the research methodology (annual soil and biomass sampling + use of leading computer models to determine carbon inputs, e.g., equipment/fuel, electricity, methane emissions, fertilizers etc.)
• sampling protocols – number and location of sampling points
• data collection
• laboratories used for sample analysis
• data analysis
• findings and
• feedback to farmers/ranchers      

Jeanne says, “We did not know what we would find when we began measuring.  But it has been very encouraging to see the preliminary results from the first 3 years of measurements on our north central Oregon ranch.”

• The annual NET carbon capture is 1.86 tons/acre on 32,000 acres.
• Through improved practices, an additional 60,000 tons of carbon/year is being captured (NET).
• This is equivalent to removing more than 218,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere.
• Our GHG emissions total a NET negative value.
• And our improved practices have us avoiding an additional 8,880 tons of emissions of CO2 equivalents/year.

Shaniko Wool has two years of data on 1.5 million acres and has baselined another 1 million acres within the RWS farm group of ranches.  As the research continues, they look forward to knowing the aggregate ecosystem impacts of the collective Shaniko wool supply.  Jeanne says this is important information for their brand customers, and the most important work she has ever done.  “In agriculture today, we have the opportunity for new stakeholders to join our work.  I see voluntary carbon market companies who provide the framework, and brand partners who are investing in carbon insets to move their companies toward corporate sustainability targets, as new partners in agriculture at the origins of fiber.”    

Shaniko Wool has been working with Agoro Carbon Alliance since February 2022.  The hope is that in the near future, all ranches in the farm group will hold contracts for their measured carbon credits.

In 2022 Jeanne Carver hosted a tour of the Imperial Stock Ranch led by the Oregon Association of Conservation Districts through Its legislative tour program that is part of the Oregon Conservation Partnership work. Key legislators, agency staff, Oregon Agriculture Heritage Program Commissioners, and Wasco Soil and Water Conservation District staff took part and reviewed the work on the ranch supporting soil health and carbon sequestration. Their ranch has successfully transitioned to the next generation, building for the future.

Note:  To learn more about Jeanne Caver’s work, read Stories of Fashion, Textiles, and Place: Evolving Sustainable Supply Chains by Jeanne Carver and Leslie Davis Burns.  The book follows the journeys of companies with evolving sustainable supply chains in the fashion and textile industry. Those companies are committed to advancing the cultural traditions of a particular place. They value, honor, and are all deeply rooted in the geography, culture, and people of a specific location and their success is attributable to their connection to that place. With this shared value, their unique stories highlight the conditions, risks, strategies, and successes in creating and maintaining sustainable supply chains.  (Amazon)

More to the Story:   About a year and a half ago, OPB went to Jeanne’s ranch and took photos and interviewed her.  The story was just published on September 18, 2023.