On a sunny, blue sky day in November we headed up to Rancho Grande in the Los Padres National Forest in Ojai. We were joined by about 30 people, including sustainability directors, production managers, environmental consultants, compliance specialists, and certification managers from major brands, as well as a handful of local designers, editors, and advocates for regenerative agriculture.

After some opening remarks, we wandered the ranch, fed the animals, and engaged in one-on-one talks. We talked about the challenges of transitioning to regen ag practices – California ranchers, and especially small flock holders, are often on water-scarce land and / or subject to a melange of county, state, and federal guidelines – reconnecting local fiber to the supply chain, developing relationships, and reminding ourselves of where fiber naturally comes from.

In our case, for our first fiber pool (see story, here), we mixed Rancho’s colored merino with alpaca from Windy Hill in Somis (Ventura) to create our first fleece-to-yarn. The Ranch cares for a flock of sheep, a herd of chill goats, ten guard and floof dogs, an abundance of guinea pigs, chickens, ducks, a 700 pound pig named Huell, and the infamous Albert the Camel.

Our hope is to connect apparel and textile brands, designers, and mills seeking local wool and alpaca sources, and eventually to support a transition to regenerative agriculture practices. With support from So Cal Fibershed, Rancho Grande has begun applying for grants to trial new practices and expand their flock. At present, although not actively engaging in specific climate beneficial activities, they are aligned socially with regenerative goals, and they do produce a bouncy, high quality wool and wool-alpaca blended yarn. Thanks in large part to the guidance of some folks on our advisory team, they’ve been able to develop their first yarn-as-finished-product, too. During our tour, Linda Murad of Rancho Grande also shared with us a first look at her first shipment of wool pellets.

We’re grateful to everyone who joined us on the tour! Thank you.