Wyoming sheep produced 3.75 million pounds of wool during 2002 with a total value of $2.74 million. Total production was down 5 percent from 2001 but average wool prices were up 22 cents to 73 cents per pound. The total value of wool was up 36 percent from 2001, up 28 percent from 2000, and up 13 percent from 1999, but down 36 percent from $4.27 million in 1998.

Wyoming was second in the nation in wool production behind Texas but, for the eleventh consecutive year, wool production in Wyoming fell to a new record low. Growers sheared 420,000 sheep and lambs in 2002, down 5 percent from the previous year. Average weight per fleece in 2002 was 8.9 pounds, down 0.1 pound from 2001.

United States: Shorn wool production in the United States during 2002 was 41.2 million pounds, down 4 percent from 2001. Sheep and lambs shorn totaled 5.45 million head, down 4 percent from 2001. The average price paid for wool sold in 2002 was $0.53 per pound for a total value of $21.8 million dollars, up 42 percent from $15.3 million dollars in 2001.