Regional Agriculture is a term that has emerged on the back of more established and likely more familiar terms such as “Sustainable Farming” and “Regenerative Farming” and the growing visibility of environmental, ecological and animal welfare issues in agriculture. A more formalised definition describes Regional Agriculture as “A socio-ecological framework that embeds food production, processing, and consumption within a specific geographic and cultural context.”
In the context of food production regional agriculture moves the food we eat from a global, anonymous commodity to a local product and supports what can be a profound psychological shift when we know where and by whom the food was grown which can transform the simple act of eating into an act of participation in the local community and a shared identity. In these economically challenging times price can still be a major influence but there are increasing numbers of people who take an active interest in where their food comes from, and in the animal welfare and environmental impact associated with its production. Modern neurological science has highlighted the emotional, cultural and sensory inputs of such engagement. The ability to choose food that aligns with our personal values provides a small but tangible way for individuals to address the global challenge of climate change, enabling a sense of agency, recognised as a critical component of sustained behavioral change. By reducing the distance from farm to fork regional agriculture has the ability to transform our relationship with our food from an impersonal transaction into a compelling connection.
So what has this got to do with Mohair and Angora Goats? Well, in simple terms, the underlying principles of regional agriculture apply equally to fibre production. Again, whilst price is a critical factor for some, consumers are increasingly looking at the sources of raw materials, working conditions, environmental and societal impact – like food purchases they want to know where their clothes come from and how they are made. This has been especially noticeable in the wool industry, where the dominant position of the British Wool Marketing board has encouraged a number of entrepreneurial startups to seek to find ways to capitalise on the unique characteristics of the many different UK sheep breeds, many of which have quite localised presence. Championing the unique origin, history and characteristics of some of these breeds, together with building a stronger supply chain where the producers get a fairer return on their raw fleece is strengthening a growing movement in the sheep sector.
This is exactly the same environment into which British Mohair Marketing has evolved, sharing the same problems and championing the same values. Both wool and mohair are global commodities and, at least in the UK (but to a great extent globally) both face the consequences of a shrinking fibre processing sector. The UK, a country whose wealth was built on the wool industry in centuries gone by, now only has two major scouring plants left. These each have the capacity to handle more than 100,000 kg of raw fibre every week, but working on typical batch sizes of 1,000kg or more create major problems for the more limited volumes found in the UK mohair sector and many of the local rare breed sheep. Making mid size commercial processing (batches of 50-500kg) cost effective seems to have eluded the industry. Nevertheless, the power of regional agriculture to reduce the distance from farm to fork is now starting to emerge in the textile sector as the fashion industry embraces the benefits of regional agriculture through endeavours such as the Great British Wool Revival and others which are seeking a similar impact in farm to fashion. Wool and Mohair are frequently blended to meet the needs of different use cases and are thus complementary rather than competing. Accordingly BMM is in contact with a number of these organisations to establish, where appropriate, loose alignments where these would be mutually beneficial. Together we are stronger.
The initial steps by British Mohair Marketing to create awareness of British produced mohair, the high animal welfare standards inherent in the small family owned farms across the UK which produce the raw mohair are a great starting point, but there is still much to do. We know that buyers are seeking greater transparency in the sources of raw materials, and natural fibres are slowly fighting back against the massive explosion in man-made textiles over the past few decades. Factors such as authenticity, provenance, traceability are emerging as key drivers for increasing customer engagement and greater value, but the infrastructure as it stands today is not conducive to delivering on these. The decision to bypass the global mohair auctions in South Africa and process in the UK was a good start, but our volumes only enable origination and traceability at a UK-wide level. Traceability to an individual farm (or small group of farms) would unlock higher prices but the processing solutions are limited, hand processing (scouring in a bucket!) or sky high prices for small batch processing by a limited number of commercial mills appear to be the only options, at least at present.
Hence BMM is currently investigating this area to see if a middle ground can be found, where batches of 10-100kg could be processed in a cost effective manner and new sales channels developed to sell processed mohair rovings to a new audience of customers. This would not replace our current arrangement with SEAL who have the ability to reach the high volume commercial buyers, but are less well positioned to address smaller buyers.