Fiber Mills Knit Together Breeders and Artists

By Les O’Dell

For many wool producers and artisans, the gap between raw fleece and finished products can be intimidating. Not only are there multiple steps involved in transforming recently shorn wool into yarn and other ready-to-use products, but the process can also be labor-intensive and time-consuming. That is where fiber mills come in.

“Fiber mills are so valuable,” explains Jeannette Beranger, senior program manager with The Livestock Conservancy. “Without them, breeders are likely to struggle to find the resources to make their wool into a usable product.”

Simply put, these mills are processors, taking bulk wool and using a range of technology and methods to process it into fiber and finished products for craftspeople, artists and consumers.

“We take fiber from animals and turn it into whatever products our clients want,” says Christian Davies, co-owner of C&M Acres, a Maxwell, Iowa, full-service fiber mill, “Whether it be yarn, roving, rugs or something else.”

To make the transition, commercial mills use massive, high-speed machines and processes, Davies outlines. For example, rather than carding fleece with a 4- or 8-inch hand carding tool, his mill uses a 32-inch carder which weighs nearly three tons.

“Also, instead of hand-treading a single spinning wheel, we spin eight threads at 5000 RPM,” Davies says. “It’s exactly the same as hand spinning, just commercialized and streamlined.”

Davies says he has learned over his 13 years as a mill owner how to work with heritage breed fibers.

“There’s only one or two breeds on the Conservation Priority List where I’ve not worked with their wool. Working with some of them for the first time was quite surprising,” he says. “I was used to thinking of more standard crimp and normal staple length, and then suddenly, I’m working with super long fibers with very little crimp and a very stout micron count.”

He says he had to learn to make the proper adjustments to machines and processes when working with heritage-breed fiber, adding that he has also embraced the role of educator, both with producers and consumers.

For breeders, Davies says mills can provide insight on the health of herds just from the wool they process.

“There are times I’ve had to call a client after looking at a fleece and tell them that we can’t make yarn from it because something must have happened during the growth cycle, and the fiber is breaking,” he shares. “They will tell me, ‘Oh, yeah, the animal was sick or there was a dog attack or something.’ We can see that health plays a huge part in hair. When the animal is sick or fighting something or stressed, the animal’s body focuses on taking care of itself and not the hair and the hair gets thinner during stress and then goes back to normal, but that thinner part is what breaks.”

Davies and other mill operators also serve as cheerleaders and connectors for unique fibers.

“A big part of what we do is education, helping people discover what they actually have with their fiber and how they can make it better,” he explains, adding he also encourages breeders and artists to try new things. “I don’t claim to be an expert, but we’ve been exposed to so much that we will try to connect people to other breeders or breeds that complement what they have.”

Roy Clemes of Clemes and Clemes, a manufacturer of fiber art equipment, says a big part of what his company does is connecting customers with fibers that perhaps they may not have tried yet—especially when it comes to heritage breed wool.

“I think the interesting thing is that you can find rare breed fiber in all styles; some are really fine and crimpy, others are nice, medium wools, while some of the primitive breeds are multi-coated,” Clemes explains. “So, if somebody tells me what they want to do, but do it with a heritage breed—almost any project—I’m able to say, ‘Go try this one,’ and they’ll be happy.”

Mills play a vital role for sheep breeders and fiber artists.

“Using a mill can be great,” explains Amy Barnes, a Wisconsin sheep breeder. “They can do bigger projects, and the fiber comes back more uniform. Plus, it’s easy to send it off and have it come back as a finished product.”

But – and it is a big but – there are a couple of kinks in the wool works: the workload on mills is, at times, overwhelming and, perhaps more concerning, some in the industry say the number of mills is shrinking like a poorly washed wool sweater.

Davies says his customers must routinely wait as long as 22 months for their finished products. For that reason, some producers prefer the time-consuming task of spinning their own fiber.

“It’s easier to send it to a mill, but sometimes the waiting list is years long,” Barnes says.

Margie Schafer of Round Barn Fiber Mill in Durand, Illinois, admits the processing wait time can be lengthy, but she says reports of fewer mills might be threadbare.

“There have been a lot of mill closings, especially in the last six to 12 months,” Schafer explains. “However, there are always new mills opening, and there has always been a big turnover in mills. Just from my looking at it, though, I don’t think it is signifying a big seismic shift in the fiber mill industry.”

Schafer says it may appear that there are fewer mill operators because many of the new mills are much smaller than those that have recently closed. She says many of these fiber providers simply need to broaden their search for a mill.

“It’s true that some people feel a little panicky because they haven’t been able to get a relationship with a mill, but I think that maybe some of them just don’t realize that there are a lot of other mills around,” Schafer, who also raises Jacob-American sheep, says.

She says the demand for millwork may continue to increase in part due to growing demand for fiber, thanks to new fiber artists and programs like The Livestock Conservancy’s Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em initiative.

“The backbone of most small mills in America is to assist small farmers and shepherds with adding value to their wool. Fiber artists, hand-spinners, weavers, knitters, and crocheters are looking for high-quality yarn produced and processed in America. The textile industry in this country primarily resides in small fiber mills,” she adds.

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2026 edition of The Livestock Conservancy Newsletter, a quarterly publication sent to members of the organization. To join, visit www.livestockconservancy.org/join

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