Heidi Dickens and Christine McBrearty-Hulse crossed pastures as cashmere growers in 2015. The vision of creating a direct avenue to connect US cashmere growers to an end user was further fostered from a trip to Tuscany Italy at an International Cashmere Conference held in the little town of Radda. It became apparent at this conference that when US cashmere was analyzed against other countries' cashmere it surpassed length, style and micron. No other resource to our knowledge had offered homegrown US cashmere to buyers looking to source a completely US product with cashmere be it through yarn or other textiles. Heidi and Christine's vision for US sourced cashmere from local farms took root. Their many adventures in Italy which involved learning and researching the international landscape of cashmere growers fueled their initiative to execute a business model where the producer and distributor join in an integrated sourcing model of US cashmere.
Knowing there were many small farms with under 50 goats, as well as the hurdles these farms were experiencing with processing challenges, led to a business model that would benefit the growers and product buyer. Starting with a core group of selective growers that follow guidelines to ensure animal welfare, quality graded fiber, and environmental standards allowed our sourcing practices to ensure a sustainable supply chain. Our vision was to source high-quality cashmere directly from cashmere growers throughout the United States who are healthy and graze sustainably.
We meet our farmers in person to ensure animal welfare and social conditions are respected. This approach ensures that our cashmere is traceable all the way to our dehairing mill. Our farms use the North American Cashmere Standard as their herd breed standard.
The number of cashmere goats our families have ranges between 25 to 200. This only allows us to source small quantities between 5-50lbs. of cashmere but also ensures that the family manages their stock sustainably. We not only visit all our family farms, but we offer consultation and resources to support growers in harvesting the best cashmere . CleanCashmere.Farm provides a working relationship that encompasses education to our family farmers. This element is at the core of the working relationship with the farms who join us on the journey of sourcing 100 % US cashmere. Our policy is to pay a premium price for the best quality cashmere. This helps to sustain and maintain the same quality for the next year.. We believe that in order to make US fiber farms a reality in the marketplace we must invest in educating and paying the grower fairly. It is the right thing to do and makes perfect business sense.

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