FARMER’S FLOCK

FIBER BUYING PROGRAM

WE WANT TO BUY YOUR WOOL

It’s getting harder and harder to get fiber processed and turned into something great. Upfront cost, prep labor, locality, marketing, and direct selling might all be obstacles you (and many small farms) face.

We want to help, and we don’t want to keep your farm anonymous while doing it.

Submit your form

HOW IT WORKS

YOU:

  1. shear your fiber animal

  2. lightly skirt the fiber and bag it (no poop or urine soaked fleeces!)

WE:

  • pay you

  • pick up your fiber

  • grade it

  • prep it

  • turn it into something cool

  • pay you more!

  • sell the product

We won’t know what product we can make with your clip until we get our hands on it, but it could become anything from pellets to yarn to pillows to garments, all with your farm’s name on it!

So what’s the catch?

You don’t get to decide what your fiber becomes, and you don’t get full payment amount up front.

Without being able to look through your fiber and assess it properly, we don’t know what we can make with it (yet). We also don’t involve you in the process after we buy your wool. It might be batched, it might sit for awhile, etc., but once we purchase it for the base price, it’s ours to manage.

Initial wool purchase payment is $2/lb and it must follow the below requirements:

  • Be longer than 3”

  • Have feces and urine soaked portions removed

  • Be dry

  • Be stored properly until pick up (instructions below)

Once your fiber has been turned into a product, we will pay you for the finished product weight. For example, if you have 50 lbs of medium/coarse lambswool that can be turned into roving…

50 lbs x $2 = $100, up front payment at the time of pick up

30 lbs of product x $6 = $180 paid to you after the product is created, but before it’s sold

$280 paid to the farmer, total

We're betting on you and your fiber, and betting on our community. If we’re unable to sell the finished product, that’s not your problem, it’s ours.

F.A.Q.

  • We’ll take sheep’s wool of any kind, and alpaca. Products that are a single-breed fiber often sell easier and for more, so you may get more money our of a single-breed clip.

    There is a place on the form to specify what your fiber type is.

  • Fill out the form here and we will be in touch (regardless of if we can take your fiber).

  • As long as your fiber is dry, 95% clean of feces and urine, free of bugs, and is bagged individually, we can take it.

    After your flock is shorn, place the lightly skirted fleece in a bag and leave the bag open in a dry place out of the sun for a week. After a week has passed, squish the bag and tie it shut so that air can’t get in or out.

    Please bag your fiber in clear, unscented plastic.

  • We will pick up your fiber. Please keep it stored somewhere dry until then, and please note that it may take us several weeks to come pick it up, or longer, as we have to coordinate with other farms in your area.

    We will contact you with a pick up date after we’ve accepted your fiber into the program.

  • That’s up to you!

    We would like to put your farm name on the label for whatever product we make. This gets you a little marketing and visibility, and connects our customers with their local fibershed.

    If you wish to remain anonymous, we’ll only put your general location on the label (i.e. “Arlington”).

    We also would like to communicate to our customer what your flock is used for, whether it be meat, milk, or other uses.

  • Staple is the length of the fiber. Our milling equipment is unable to process fiber that is less than 3” long, or over 9” long. If you have fiber that falls outside of this range, please specify that in your submission.

  • In order to make this program work, both on paper and off, we need to be as efficient with our labor and time. This means we can’t commit time to communications with you, and we may need to make decisions on things quickly. As the experts on both the milling and selling side of fiber, you can trust us to make the best product we’re able to make based on multiple factors, including staple length, how dirty your fleece is, how soft or coarse it is, and how strong it is.

    Skagit Woolen Works would be happy to custom process your fleeces for you within their standard processing offerings, if that’s what you’d rather do with your fiber.