Sheep Industry News April 2025

Conquering the Divide

L ong before she began to take an active role in the American wool industry, Mary Jeanne Packer came to understand the disconnect between the general public and farmers. As a small mill founder, she’s run into similar divides be tween sheep producers and the mills that process their wool. But she’s bound and determined to tackle that and other issues the industry faces as a member of the ASI Wool Council, which she was appointed to for the first time a year ago. Packer first saw that divide while working with the U.S. De partment of Agriculture for more than a dozen years, and even more so while running her own consulting firm that worked with natural resource groups representing Christmas tree and maple syrup producers, among others. She ran into it again after founding Battenkill Fibers Carding and Spinning Mill in Greenwich, N.Y. In Denver on business in March, Packer visited the ASI office to sit down with ASI Wool Marketing Director Rita Samuelson and Wool Production Program Manager Heather Pearce to discuss some of the issues facing American wool from a processor’s perspective. “I wish I could tell you we were ready to launch some giant initiative or dramatic new program,” Packer said. “But what we can do is work toward some small changes that might have a big impact. We want to improve the wool clip and look at ways to make the small- and medium-size mills in this country more efficient. We had a good brainstorming session about activities we can undertake as a council.” An ASI study concluded there are about 100 such mills in the United States, and they play an instrumental role in pro cessing wool for niche markets and growers who market their wool directly to consumers. “Consumers want local products,” Packer said. “I opened a yarn store in 2005 and went out to visit local sheep producers. Some of them had yarn I could sell, but there was no guarantee it was from their wool. They would send off their wool to be processed and get back yarn that may or may not have come from their wool. I saw a need for someone in the middle to bridge that gap between the producers and the consumers.” Engineering Her Way Packer was a knitter and sewer early on in life, but her par ents pushed her to enroll in the civil engineering program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she eventually earned a bachelor's degree. That background came in handy through the years as she maintained and repaired various ma

chines around her mill. Of course, she had help along the way. She credits the folks at Green Mountain Spinnery in Vermont with providing a lot of knowledge and inspiration as she started Battenkill in 2009 and then worked to keep it moving in the right direction in the years that followed. “There’s a deep learning curve that comes with starting a mill. And we want to try and return that favor when we can,” she said of providing insight to several new mills that have popped up in recent years. “It’s been a real joy to see other mills open and for us to be able to help them in the same way that Green Mountain did for us. I learned a lot of lessons in getting my mill going, so what I want us to look at is how can we build on that and share that information at ASI? “There’s definitely room for more mills in this country, or at the very least for the existing mills to increase their capacity. I’ve found it’s easier to add equipment at an existing mill than it is to start a new mill. But there are lots of ways that we could go to increase our processing capacity for American wool.” While Packer has never raised sheep, she’s always been an advocate and supporter of American wool, and she welcomes her opportunity to be involved with the Wool Council. “Mary Jeanne has a lot of energy and passion for our indus try,” said Samuelson. “We were fortunate to be able to spend an afternoon with her outside of the usual Wool Council meetings to better understand her background and her ideas for moving our industry forward.” For more on wool developments in New York State, see the October 2024 issue of the Sheep Industry News .

10 • Sheep Industry News • sheepusa.org