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Angora goats are shorn twice a year.
Bucks can grow magnificent horns.
Dave Brown
Mohair is soft and versatile.
People say it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good and that’s certainly the case when it comes to Covid-19 and angora goat farmers. Last year’s lockdown levels led to a revival in crafts generally, knitting in particular, and consequently the demand for mohair, the whisper-soft fleece of the angora goats, has shot up.
So have prices. The past six months have seen increases of 30 per cent to around $40-plus per kg for top quality fibre.
Two of the key players in the NZ angora goat sector live and farm locally – industry veteran and respected breeder Dave Brown is based off Cove Road, south of Waipu, and Mohair Producers NZ chair Carl King has a flock off Wyllie Road, south of Warkworth.
They are both keen to point out that while the recent increase in prices is at least partly due to the pandemic, it’s not the whole story.
“World production has diminished dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years, from 24 million kilogrammes a year to three million now,” Dave says.
Angora goat numbers have also dropped sharply, from around four million worldwide to fewer than 100,000 now. Even industry leader South Africa, supplying more than half the world’s mohair, has seen severe cutbacks in mohair production.
“Globally, production has declined, but the demand has remained very strong, especially for top-end quality fibre,” Dave says.
This long, fine mohair is called weaving-quality fibre and is in high demand for high-end tailoring and fashion – think Italian suits and designer dresses. Although the very finest mohair has only ever made up a tiny percentage of the overall yield, there was usually enough to meet demand in the past due to the sheer number of animals in production. Now, however, with goat numbers slashed and the demand maintained, there is great potential for farmers who can provide quality mohair.
“Farmers are not going for volume so much now, they’re going for quality,” Dave says. “There’s been a big swing for goats with finer, longer fleece because it fetches more dollars per kg. Some are selling for up to $100 per kilo.”
Carl King says increased demand from Asia is also contributing to the rise in prices.
“China has come back into the market in a big way,” he says. “It wants high end stuff, so is one of the regions that’s really forcing it up.”
The New Zealand mohair market is tiny, accounting for just 1 per cent of world production – or around 30 tonnes a year. Of that, six or seven tonnes stays in NZ for the home knitting market. The rest is exported via South Africa.
Both Dave Brown and Carl King believe the timing is right for Kiwis to increase the size of their flocks and up production, not only to make the most of rising mohair prices, but because the industry is mature enough to supply the right animals to meet market demands and suit New Zealand conditions.
Dave knows more than most about angora goats, having been in the game since the very early days, when he kept fit by chasing and grabbing the odd wild Waipu angora goat from the Bryderwyn hills in the early 1970s. These animals were descendants of a failed attempt to farm them locally in the late 1800s and, while they were only average fleece producers, they made great base stock, as they were so hardy. Keen to learn more, Dave visited South Africa and began to import goats to improve local genetics. The market then boomed in the 1980s – the best bucks could attract well over $100,000 – largely due to tax incentives, but promptly crashed when they were brought to an end. Although angoras “went on the back burner” for Dave in the 1990s and early 2000s, he is now fully back in business, with 500 goats and a keen interest in importing quality stock from Australia, where a good deal of goat trading goes on these days.
“In the last six to eight years, I’ve gone to Australia three or four times and brought back decent angoras, bucks and does,” he says. “Over the last five or six years I’ve been supplying progeny out to the New Zealand industry.”
He says that while angoras can be “tricky little beasts” to farm, and more complex than sheep, people should not be put off,
Carl King agrees. His wife Kimberly manages their 140-goat flock and despite being born a townie “she’s all over it”.
“Angora farmers are very friendly, helpful and supportive, it’s great for new people to come into,” he says. “The future looks really strong. There’s really good demand and the future is very bright. But the industry wouldn’t have survived without the likes of Dave Brown and others who helped us through.”
I kid you not – angora fleece facts
• Angora goats produce mohair – not angora wool, which comes from rabbits.
• The goats’ name comes from the Angora region in Turkey, now known as Ankara, where the animals originated.
• Angoras enjoy pest plants – they thrive on kikuyu and are partial to brambles, thistles, wild ginger and moth weed, too.
• Mohair grows at around 2.5cm a month and angoras are shorn twice a year.
• The average mohair yield per year is around five kg per goat.
