August 2023

Hello,

We are now at the best time of year at New Zealand Cashmere. We are starting to receive fibre from our growers and kids will soon start to hit the ground, in fact a few flocks have kidded across the country already!

It’s been an eventful couple of months, with National Fieldays, the opening of the Dehairing and Scouring Plant at Woolyarns Lower Hutt facility as well as our inaugural New Zealand Cashmere Conference.

The opening of the Dehairing and Scouring plant is hugely significant; our domestic supply chain is complete. A supply chain which is unique to New Zealand; a fully traceable, sustainable and within country of the fibre’s production sets us apart from other cashmere producers and is cause for celebration.

We are at the brink of an evolution, not just for the New Zealand fibre industry, but for the global cashmere industry. Thank you for being a part of this journey.

There are a number of projects we have underway to enable farmers and their flocks to thrive within our Cashmere industry and some of these require assistance from our growers as spoken about at Conference.

There are a number of case studies we would like to run on-farm, in fact, we are running one on our own family farm here in Central Otago. We are running a small flock of cashmere does deep in feral country to discover the most effective ways to fence feral goats out of cashmere flocks utilising existing fences – a challenge for many farmers interested in farming cashmere goats with surrounding feral populations.

Other case studies may include understanding impacts of cashmere goats on clover content, integration with and impact on other stock classes or using cashmere goats as weed control. If you’re interested in being a part of a case study, please get in touch.

The other aspect is sharing our cashmere stories within our farming community and the realities of farming cashmere goats. This can be through hosting farm open days, aiding New Zealand Cashmere in telling real farmer stories or tagging New Zealand Cashmere on facebook or Instagram posts!

After a head injury earlier in the year, I am happy to be back to fulltime work again and very much looking forward to being on the road once more, catching up with existing growers and bringing new growers into the fold.

Please get in contact if you would like a farm visit. These are good opportunities to assess your current system, flock status and health, infrastructure, plan for the future of your flock and explore further opportunities with New Zealand Cashmere moving forward.