Luxury-fibre ready for the next stage after project re-establishes cashmere industry
Woolyarns, through New Zealand Cashmere, have completed the Sustainably Beautiful Cashmere SFFF programme to re-start the cashmere fibre industry.
The programme has successfully developed tools and resources to support farmers as they consider adding cashmere fibre production to diversify their farming businesses.
Over the course of the programme 50 farms are on-board having started farming cashmere-producing goats with progeny and fibre production showing excellent quality.
Farm system gains for pastures, weed control and benefits for other livestock classes have been gained showing the benefits of diversification in addition to the revenue from fibre.
A state-of-the-art multi-million-dollar fine fibre scour in Wellington, and processing facility has been commissioned to process fibre to meet customer demand.
Farm Assurance protocols for fibre production are also in place to ensure market premiums can be passed through to growers.
The sector is well-set up with this nucleus group of growers.
Environmental and productivity research was compiled, reviewed and updated by AbacusBio and a calculator built to show farmers the potential benefits of cashmere integration within their specific farm system.
Farm consultancy support tools have also been developed to aid the integration of cashmere goats on farm.
Two case study farms supported by AgFirst will continue to provide insights for farmers who are interested in seeing the benefits of producing fibre for the $4b cashmere market.
New Zealand Cashmere will scale back on-farm advisory support to refocus beyond the farm gate on market partnerships and sales with Woolyarns.
New Zealand Cashmere CEO Andy May says they will continue to work with farmers through providing resources and tools, and providing long-term, high-value guaranteed contracts for fibre and market insights.
“We thank Olivia Sanders for her role as Business Development Manager. Liv came on at the very start of this project and over the past three years she has been instrumental in the development of the industry, creating resources for farmers and building connections with growers and industry. Over the past year Duncan Steans has also provided strong start-up support for new growers in the North Island.”
“During the initial re-establishment stage has been important for New Zealand Cashmere and Woolyarns to work alongside farmers to really understand the benefits they’re seeing on farm, and the finer points of farming cashmere goats. We have used this learning experience to refine available tools and resources to support farmers, and to better position this fibre in the ultra-premium end of the market.”
“The market remains strong with significant demand. We encourage farmers to contact us as there are premiums for volume supply of quality fibre and we can support farmers as they start-up with long-term guaranteed supply contracts.”