Mini fleece mill a massive learning curve

An interest in fibre and craft was the catalyst for a decision to import a Canadian fleece-processing mill to Toodyay.

Jenny Cornwall, who owns the mini mill known as Paca Molino, moved to the 2.3ha block in 2004, bringing with her two alpacas.

Ms Cornwall had bought the block in 2001 as a weekender, but it was not until construction of a house began three years later that she permanently moved to the peaceful bush block neighbouring the Julimar forest.

"Previously, I agisted two alpacas in Gidgegannup and was working in health in Perth," she said. "I bred from my two alpacas during this time and was starting to develop an interest in working with alpaca fleece."

Originally from Cardiff, Ms Cornwall has lived in Australia for more than 40 years. Farming was on her mother's side of the family, but it was mostly Jenny's love of the Australian bush that was behind her decision to move to her own block.

Before the alpacas, she first considered owning llamas but an information seminar she attended in 1998 changed this plan.

It showed how easy alpacas were to keep, with their fibre becoming the main attraction, she said.

"Alpacas are gentle on the environment in comparison to livestock such as sheep and cattle, they are easy animals to manage and I love their fibre," she said. "The alpaca industry is also a great, diverse industry to be involved with."

When Ms Cornwall first bought her alpacas, the Suri breed made up only 10 per cent of the Australian alpaca population.

"The Suri breed was considered fairly rare then, now numbers have increased. For me, the attraction to this breed was the fleece, which is soft, silky and more like angora fleece, " she said.

The producer's alpaca numbers went from two females in 2004 to a total of 13 alpacas on her property and two agisted elsewhere.

She has bred her own stud male and also uses an outside male for breeding purposes.

Ms Cornwall said compared to other alpaca studs in WA, hers was small, and space-and-feed limitations meant she was restricted from becoming a serious breeder.

During her time as a breeder of alpacas, she has been successful in the show ring.

Some of her most memorable achievements include her stud male Jack Ap Rhiwderyn placing first at the 2003 Perth Royal Show in the junior male Suri class.

She also won champion Suri fleece for a nineto-18-month-old animal, at Wagin Woolorama in 2004, and reserve champion Suri fleece at Whiteman Park Alpaca Autumn Show in 2004.

In 2010, Ms Cornwall decided to prioritise her business and stopped breeding alpacas to focus her energy on fibre production and processing.

"I realised I couldn't do it all, and my block was not big enough to continue expanding alpaca numbers, " she said.

Processing in the mini mill is a part-time occupation, with weather conditions determining how much processing can be done each day. She also makes alpaca products for retail.

In 2008, she decided to buy and import her Belfast Mini Mill from Prince Edward Island in Canada.

"I am a non-machine person and if it wasn't for the help of my neighbour, John Esslemont, from Esslemont Olives, who is a retired engineer, the task would have been very daunting," she said.

The fibre she processed was a lot finer than was the norm in Canada, so a lot of the information provided by the mill manufacturer was not necessarily what was put into practice.

"We had to adapt a few things, it was a massive learning curve," Ms Cornwall said.

While there was a mill operating in Toodyay at the time, she said she had found it hard to get her Suri alpaca fleece processed when and how she wanted, so the considerable investment into her own mill was made.

In 2009, she started taking external fleeces and subsequently found she must enforce strict criteria on what she would process, with the main problem being fleeces with high levels of grass seed.

"I don't mind what I process as long as it is clean," she said.

On average, Ms Cornwall processes fleeces for between 20 and 25 hours each week - some 10kg a week.

"It also depends on what else I am doing, luckily it is very flexible," she said.

Breeders from all over the State use Jenny to process their fleeces. She also processes Merino fleeces and has started creating an alpaca-Merino fibre blend.

"Sheep fleeces have different requirements to alpaca fleeces when processing, but I enjoy experimenting and trying to do what others can't," she said.

"I don't spin commercially, instead I make felt. I find it is an underutilised product."

She said the craft industry in Australia was massive and it was here that a lot of her products were sold.

Her foray into processing has also inspired her to try new crafts.

"I didn't spin or weave alpaca fleece when I started out in this industry but now I love doing it," she said. "In Toodyay alone, there is a huge demand for craft

products from spinners, weavers and felters.

"Networking with spinners groups and other different local artists is constantly improving what I am doing. I have found you can't stop growing and this is the type of thing you don't do alone, you need input from like-minded people."

Ms Cornwall said her alpaca products had been sold to people all over the world, with countries such as Japan and Europe having the ideal climates for wearing alpaca clothing.

"I felt alpaca fleece into silk, mixing silk and dyes to make new things," she said.

Of the products she makes herself, one of the quirkiest is felted organic olive oil soap, which involves combining her neighbour Esslemont Estate's organic soap with alpaca felt.

The olive oil soap is scented either with lemon myrtle or Agonis fragrance, with the soap covered in alpaca felt and silk moulded into shape so it shrinks with the soap.

When Ms Cornwall isn't busy looking after her alpacas and running her mill, she is involved in local community organisations, including spinning and felting groups, and the local Julimar Bushfire Brigade.

She said after spending most of her career in the public service, to now be operating a private enterprise was exciting and daunting.