By centering farmers, we can work with them to find solutions

Our Research

Following a comprehensive research project, The Wool Report, seeking to understand if a certification for niche British wool production would add value, it became clear that there were other barriers at play. The report found that the access to processing and manufacturing, as well as the challenge linked to cash flow, were key factors in hindering a British wool growth economy. 

It dawned on us that farmers are the most integral part of the value chain because it is they who manage the land and the animals. It’s the farmers who hold the origin stories of each fleece.

Our Initiatives

Ways of Knowing

By centering farmers, we can work with them to find solutions. Through our Lake District Farm Cluster, we are embarking on a journey of regeneration. The regeneration will not just apply to the land, but it will inform our whole business model and value chain.

  • Providing Access

    The Knitting Room

    We have installed a knitting machine for farmers looking to develop products with their own spun wool. The Knitting Room is run by us but we also work with specialist wool technicians, who can help develop designs, and broaden on-farm diversification - helping build new market opportunities without the high cost. Each product can use Farmer's Yarn label.

  • Nurturing Growth

    The Wool Bond

    Over the next 12 months we are working with farmers to research and develop The Wool Bond. An exciting new product, designed to create a financial mechanism built on integrity that values and supports ecological development on farms.

    Through a FIPL (Farming in Protected Landscapes) grant from DEFRA, we are collaborating with HYPHA and SoilMentor to link on-farm data with a loan scheme, to provide the cash flow to allow farm based wool entrepreneurs to scale, by leveraging hands-on data approaches with high value wool products. Get in contact if you have a farm in the Lake District and would like to take part in this process.
How We Work with Farmers

The Farmers Yarn Manifesto

Farmers Yarn has been set up following 5 principles that are embedded in our manifesto, each member of our supply chain adheres to these principles, and commits to establishing a greater understanding of people and their practices through building personal relations. 

  • Community

    We prioritise building long-term relationships across clusters that share landscapes.

  • Quality

    We create heirloom products that are built to last, understanding the technical aspects of the 72 varieties of British wool.

  • Stewardship

    Our commitment to stewardship involves working with scientists and farmers to continually improve the quality of raw materials. We also build connections across farms to share regenerative practices and provide scientific tools to measure ecological outcomes.

  • Prosperity

    We believe in prosperity through traceability, knowing everyone
    personally, and paying farmers exactly what they ask for, with a profit share on the products we design.

  • Design

    We facilitate more farmers, designers and brands to work in a way that embeds these values.
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