Everything But the Baa By-Products From Sheep
Educator Resources
If a student were asked to name three by-products from sheep, the answer would probably be something like this:
"Wool, lamb chops and leg of lamb"
And that answer would be completely right; but it is far from the whole story. The majority of sheep raised for processing in the United States are raised for meat purposes; while Australia holds the market on wool. Meat is an easy one - most students know what products are made from meat - leg of lamb, lamb chops, kabobs, rack of lamb and others. Wool gets a little more complicated - what do we use wool for? Depending on the quality it could be used for carpets, felt, clothing, fabric and many other things.
After that though, it starts getting really tricky. While meat and wool are the two products that readily come to mind, so much more of the sheep is used. There are products made from the hide, from the fat, from the manure and from the intestines that most don't realize have anything to do with sheep.
Want to learn more about by-products from sheep? Check out our Everything But the Baa infographic, video, worksheet, and activities! It is a great visual for students to start learning about just how much agriculture impacts their daily lives through more than just the food on their plates and illustrates how we really do use everything but the baaaa!