Buyers Pay For Wool Before Sheep Are Sheared

Buyers Pay For Wool Before Sheep Are Sheared 34-4-8 Melissa Todd can't hedge her wool on a future's market, but she has something better. Her customers pay in advance for their wool and woolen products. "About 80 percent of the wool we produce goes to the members of our Fiber CSA (community sponsored agriculture) group," says Todd. "There's very little risk for shareholders," says Todd. "The number of skeins of yarn the shareholder receives will vary with the wool harvest, but to not get any, the flock would have to die." Reducing risk or even sharing it was never Todd's goal. She had been successful selling her woolen products via craft shows. Her website drew in customers from around the U.S. and even Europe. However, she wanted to connect with local fiber users. "We live near Eau Claire, Wis., and there are a lot of knitters and weavers there, so I decided to try a new approach," she says. The first year she handed out fliers at craft shows and The Country Today, a statewide newspaper, did a story on her plans. "I had a lot of people call to share stories about raising sheep, and knitters called about the wool," says Todd. "They liked the idea that I didn't use any dyes, just the natural colors of the wool." Todd's 30 head herd includes Scottish Blackface, Shetland and a few Icelandic animals. All are raised for fiber production. Some are white, some black and some mottled. As a result, when the processed wool comes back from the woolen mill, she has a range of straight to blended color, as well as spun and unspun (roving) wool. "Each shareholder gets a variety of colors of yarn and a sample of roving," says Todd. "They also get notecards with pictures of sheep and the farm." Todd also sends out quarterly newsletters to shareholders. The goal is to help them feel a part of the farm and the entire year's wool production. The effort seems to be working. Todd sold her entire 26 shares for 2009 and is already getting inquiries for 2010. Shares are priced at $96 each. "We get a lot of requests from people wanting to give them as birthday and Christmas gifts," says Todd. Todd still markets her wool via the internet. One of the unique products she offers is her Felted Soap Kit in a Jar. The jar contains a bar of soap and a combination of died and natural wool roving. At $8.50, it has proven very popular. "When you wet the wool, it shrinks around the soap," says Todd. "It's like a wool wash cloth with soap in the middle." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Melissa Todd, N10221 County Road G, Hixton, Wis. 54635 (ph 715 984-2379; woolnfeatherfarm@yahoo.com; www.woolnfeatherfarm.etsy.com).

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