The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Farmers spin success from angora goats
Just a year into selling their angora goat yarn, a Fife farming couple are attracting interest from all around the world.
Andrew Johnston and Laury-anne Boschman have 22 angora goats at Annfield Farm outside Dunfermline, one of only three farms with the breed in Scotland.
After kidding season next year, the fifth-generation farmers hope to have 18 more animals to breed for their soft fibres.
While Andrew’s dad still runs the farm housing cattle, the couple got their first seven goats in October 2020.
“It was my birthday that we picked them up,” 28-year-old Andrew says.
“Then a breeder down south was retiring, so we bought his stock before we started getting kids.”
Laury-anne, 32, adds: “They’ve been selected for fibre, they have milk for the kids but they don’t have enough to keep producing and they’re not the right size for meat.
“But they can do fibre all the way through their life, so we are keeping them all the way until the end of their natural life.”
Despite growing up on Annfield Farm, Andrew needed time to come around to taking over.
Laury-anne, who moved to Scotland from France to study at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), nudged him towards the angora market.
She says: “I went to agricultural high school and did a three-month placement at an angora goat farm in the Pyrenees. I fell in love with the breed.
“We both went to SRUC, but didn’t meet until after graduating at pipe band.
“I was a bit keener on farming than him so I pushed to start something. As a goat costs £200-£300, the start-up costs are cheaper than cattle.”
Angora goats produce mohair, a luxury fibre known for its fluffy and shiny qualities.
To make their yarn, Annfield Farm mixes mohair with Shetland fleece from sheep at farms in Cupar and Kinross. It is the only yarn producer that sells this blend.
Each year Andrew and Laury-anne send around 300kg (660lb) of fibre to Halifax Spinning Mill and get yarn in return. Each skein is hand dyed by Laury-anne.
The couple sell their products at yarn festivals and agricultural shows.
“Nowadays when folk are looking to shorten food miles, they like to see where the yarn comes from,” says Andrew.
“The younger generation is also picking up an interest in crafts, and they’re good at using social media.”
Laury-anne adds: “We had a knitting designer in the USA contact us, wanting to make a pattern with our yarn.
“It’s insane that we’re reaching across the world within a year.”
They are already working with several designers to have patterns made for their yarn.
To expand their flock of goats, the Fife farmers also plan to import animals from France.