Soon after the federal government set up subsidies in 1954 for producers of wool and mohair, ostensibly a vital strategic commodity for manufacturing military uniforms, Dacron and other synthetics displaced wool's importance by the early 1960s. Still, it took until 1993 for Congress to abolish what by then had become a $100 million program, after receiving embarrassing press for what the New York Times called the "mohair toilet seat." But in April 1996, the subsidy came back to life when Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) sponsored the formation of a National Sheep Industry Improvement Center, empowered with up to $50 million to "enhance production and marketing of sheep or goat products in the United States."

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