At first glance, it’s just an ordinary tussock of grass.
Shimmering, graceful, silver-gold grass, dancing lightly in the summer breeze—but grass nonetheless. Yet sheep rancher Jeanne Carver’s fond regard for this 18-inch tuft at Imperial Stock Ranch, outside Shaniko in north-central Oregon, illustrates an idea that she hopes will transform her unique corner of agriculture: fiber production. In this case, wool from Merino sheep.
“The healthier the resources, the healthier the harvest,” she said, caressing the Columbia Basin high desert bunchgrass as if it were a rare rose. “Simple management strategies are all it takes to help the landscape immensely. And that’s what’s best for all of us—people, sheep, and wildlife.”…