When I write about Scottish wool, I often begin with a fleece: its texture, its colour, the possibilities it holds for spinning or weaving. But before that fleece reaches my hands, it belongs to a much larger story.
It begins with the people keeping the sheep.
Through Highland Magic, I’ve written about following wool from flock to finished work and making its origins visible. Listening to farmers is part of that commitment. My experience as a maker gives me one perspective on wool; the people producing it have another, grounded in the everyday work of their holdings.
That is the starting point for the Scottish Wool Farmer Research Survey.
Making room for different experiences
There is no single kind of Scottish flock. A croft, a smallholding, a pedigree breeding enterprise and a commercial farm may work at very different scales and with different priorities.
The survey begins with that context: where your holding is, the type of enterprise you manage, how many sheep you keep and which breeds you work with. It also asks whether your enterprise is primarily focused on meat, wool or both.
You don’t need to run a wool-focused enterprise for your perspective to matter. Understanding where wool sits within the wider work of keeping sheep is part of the conversation.
Why I’m asking
As a spinner, dyer and weaver, I spend a great deal of time thinking about what fleece can become. But conversations about a future for Scottish wool need to include the experience of producing it.
I want the people at the beginning of that journey to have a voice in how we think about it. This research is an invitation to contribute that perspective, rather than leaving makers to speak on farmers’ behalf.
Take part or pass it on
If you keep sheep in Scotland, please take a look at the survey. Whether you manage a commercial farm, croft, smallholding or pedigree flock, I would welcome your contribution.
Take the Scottish Wool Farmer Research Survey
If you’re a maker or wool enthusiast, you can help by sharing the link with sheep farmers and crofters you know.
Thank you to everyone who takes part or helps the survey reach another holding. Listening is part of tracing wool back to its source.
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