Sheep Industry News April 2024

Small Wisconsin Mill Has Big Reputation

Carrie Flores photo

A ll Carol Wagner wanted was to complete a sheep to sweater project with sheep she raised and wool she processed. It makes for a humble origin story for this superwoman of wool, who has teamed with her husband, Paul, to build Hidden Valley Farm & Woolen Mill into a nationally recognized leader in the small mill indus try in the United States. From Vermont to California, mills such as Hidden Valley are staying as busy as they care to be processing the fibers that come from hobby farm flocks throughout the country. Where the large mills want to work with thou sands of pounds of wool at a time, these small mills can handle modest orders that produce the raw materials neces sary to supply a network of spinning and knitting enthusi asts from every corner of the United States. Along the way, the couple has developed a well-known Coopworth flock. It started with ewes who came from New Zealand in the early 1990s, back when you could still im port live sheep into the country. “It’s hard to find a Coopworth flock in the Midwest that doesn’t have some Hidden Valley genetics,” Carol said. “It’s getting harder and harder to find a ram that isn’t related to

our flock. We’ve brought semen in from New Zealand and Australia. We’ve done artificial insemination six times, and we really need to do it again.” A teacher by trade, Carol was looking to step away from school life in the mid-1990s. The flock had grown to the point that the couple was selling yarn, batts and roving at local farmers’ markets, and in 1997 they had the opportu nity to buy an 8-ton, 1921 Davis and Furber single breaker carding machine from Dale and Kay Kaufman of Valders, Wis. Living on the farm where Paul grew up, the couple had nothing but a house and the flock on 16 acres at the time. Paul put his construction background to work and built the mill and showroom in record time. “I poured the slab on Aug. 9, and she was open for busi ness on Sept. 16,” he said with pride. “It was crude, but it was up. We did it with just my son and my father-in-law helping out.” In addition to space for the mill equipment, the building has a first-floor showroom and a second story that is part showroom, part museum, part classroom depending on the time of year.

April 2024 • Sheep Industry News • 17