Shearing at Kyle Farm: a 3000+ head sheep farm in upstate NY
“Jump right in, we’re an easy-going lot,” said Matt Kyle one of the owners of Kyle Farm, in between the gentle passes of his shearing blade over the hindquarters of a ewe resting between his legs. I looked around… jump right in? The events were passing like a well-oiled machine. 5 shearers working on one side of the corridor, the sheep corralled on the other side and men passing in-between picking up freshly shorn wool, handing off ewes to the shearers, sweeping the floor, packing bales of wool using one of the 2 the wool-presses. “Jump right in?” I thought, “sure it’s that easy, ha!” Instead of jumping right in I stood back for a moment and appreciated the efficiency of this massive operation. Most shepherds in the northeast United States raise less than 100 head, Kyle Farm raises over 3000.
I attended that day through invitation. The day before I was at Windsong Farm, Karen Stern’s farm where she raises Wensleydale sheep. She was having a few dozen ewe and ram lambs sheared by Aaron Loux of Aarons Shearing Service. Aaron and I have talked several times over the past few years and he knew about LocalFiber and my research project. I’ve been wanting to sit down with him, so I can ‘pick his brain a little’ about his experiences. We’ve talked a lot when we work together but it was always hap-hazard while working. I wanted a good sit-down conversation, instead he invited me to come to Kyle Farm for a shearing day. When he mentioned the opportunity, my eyes lit up! I thought of all the things on my to-do list that I would need to move around. I cleared my schedule.
Kyle Farm primarily raises mix breeds for meat markets (Dorset, Suffolk, Finn etc). One of their large accounts is with Whole Foods, now owned by Amazon. In fact, just a week before my visit the farm was Global Animal Partnership (GAP) inspected, a requirement of Whole Foods Market meat vendors, and Kyle Farm expects to receive their level 1 certification soon. With meat being their primary focus, and constantly working to meet this demand, wool is a ‘get what you can’ commodity for Kyle Farm (but get something
Even though it is a second thought the wool still needs to be managed, especially with their busy breeding schedule. Every other month, over the course of 3 days, 4 shearers travel to Kyle Farm from throughout the east coast and join Matt Kyle in shearing a good portion of the flock. The day I was there approx. 600 sheep were sheared, and 18 ~200 lb. bales were packed. Once the bimonthly shearing week is ended the wool is sent to Mid-States, a wool growers cooperative based out of Ohio that manages the selling of wool from over 10,000 growers in 23 states. In Kyle Farm’s case Mid-States also takes care of the grading and sorting so none of this needs to happen on farm during shearing. The wool is simply picked up off the floor and packed directly into the bales.
There are a handful of businesses in NYS that work with Mid-States to source Kyle Farms’ wool with the intention of creating a NYS grown and produced value-added product. Cece’s Wool is a good example. Owner Cecilia Tkaczyk chooses to work with Kyle Farm through Mid-States and GreenFleece because she can consistently get the quantity and quality she needs to continually produce comforters, bed pillows, pet beds, and other home goods while Mid-States takes care of the skirting and sorting which removes much of the hassle of sourcing directly from a farm.
Volume is such a dividing line in most any industry. The greater the volume the greater potential for a more profitable business, but that doesn’t work for every individual. Matt Kyle, together with his brother DJ Kyle and cousin Nathan Hatch, made a very conscious decision to grow their business in a specific direction which involved growing their flock to consistently meet large scale producer demands and this has meant that their business focus is singular. That singularity has granted them the ability to streamline production. Kyle Farm is a well-oiled machine from feed to lambing. Rather than working around the shearers schedule the shearers work around the Kyle Farm schedule being it is a consistent source of income on a bi-monthly basis. Rather than having to handle the wool themselves to eek out a few more dollars from this possible revenue stream, their consistent production, volume, and reputation with Mid-states, as well as their collaboration with folks such as GreenFleece and Cece’s Wool, has ‘guaranteed’ them an acceptable return on their wool (note: acceptable does not mean ideal, everyone in the sheep industry would love to see greater value from wool).
Kyle Farm is an exception, and they have worked hard to be so. Many of the shepherds that I have met and that make-up over 80% of fiber producers in this country are
“Jump right in, we are an easy-going lot” I stood back for a moment watching then noticed my opportunity. Hesitantly I stepped up to the pile of wool sitting by the shearers feet and scooped it up.
Dana
Dana M Havas, the Managing Director of LocalFiber, is also a graduate student of Applied Economics at Cornell University researching the fiber-to-textile supply chain.
