Speculative Wool gathering: exploring a good future for sheep and wool at NSA North Sheep 2025.

It was a wet June day at Greystoke Castle, Penrith, when our group of academics and industry partners set out to chat with farmers and others across the sheep sector about one big question: what does a good future look like for sheep and wool?

Through earlier workshops with farmers, industry professionals and researchers, we had developed a set of discussion cards to help get conversations going. We also brought along a few imagined technologies from the future — including a “sky shepherd” drone and a robot guardian dog designed to live among the flock. These ideas were never meant to predict the future, but to spark discussion about how technology might shape farming and rural life in years to come. At NSA North Sheep, farmers visit our stand to engage in discussions and select cards that represent their thoughts on what the future may hold. They consider who—whether humans, businesses, or others like sheep, sheepdogs, landscapes, soil, or society—might benefit the most or face negative outcomes in that future.

Despite the rain, the conversations were insightful and full of honesty. At the heart of these conversations was wool — a natural, renewable fibre humans have used for thousands of years, yet one that is often overlooked today in favour of synthetic, fossil-fuel-based alternatives. 

How can we encourage people and businesses to fall in love with wool again? The key themes that emerged from the discussions were around:

• Data use and decision-making: There was concern that the future could bring more data collection and sharing — sometimes simply for the sake of it. Farmers spoke about the need for practical, purposeful data that genuinely supports decision-making on farms, rather than adding unnecessary complexity or cost.

• Openness, trust and joined-up thinking: Participants raised issues of data secrecy, quality, and how information is shared across the sector. There was strong agreement on the need for better joined-up thinking — not only around data sharing and disclosure, but also in how resources are used and managed collaboratively.

• Sustainability and the natural environment: Discussions often turned to the impact of climate change and how both global and local initiatives must work together to protect the land, livestock, and ecosystems we depend on. A data-rich future, people noted, must also consider the environmental footprint of technology itself, including the growing challenge of e-waste from redundant devices like drones, sensors, and computers.

• Community and social wellbeing: Finally, many conversations focused on the human side of innovation — the need for community, fairness, justice, support, and wellbeing. Farmers emphasised that future technologies should deliver practical, inclusive solutions that strengthen rural life and help people, animals, and landscapes to thrive together.

It was great to be at North Sheep, we left feeling inspired by the conversations and we want to thank everyone who stopped by to share their thoughts about the future of the sheep industry — their hopes, frustrations and the changes they’d like to see. Your insights and honesty are helping us understand how to make future technologies work for the sheep sector — not just in it.