Consumer prices for organic food

[homewardbound]

I don't believe that Babydoll Southdown wool is similar to Cashmere Hair.

Now just like with Sheep have different grades for there wool the Cashmere breed has different grades for there hair and to me there fibers are very different. Nothing what I would call "Similar"


Chris

I can only go by what I am finding on the net.

http://www.coonamessettfarm.com/id16.html

Their wool is short stapled and fine. It grades at about 55-60, and spinners enjoy working with the wool. Fleece test at 19- 20 microns, which puts it in the class of cashmere.

Wool of 1/2 to 3/8 blood (The term "Blood" Denotes fineness:"more blood" means finer wool) or 56 to 60
(spinning count) is preferred. Medium to Medium/Fine Crimp (The natural waviness in fibers). Average Staple
(length of fiber) 2.5-3 inches long. 24 to 31 Microns (average diameter of the wool fiber)

http://www.nabssar.org/breed_standard_with_photos.html

The Cashmere averages 18.5 or less
http://www.easterncashmereassociation.org/goat-standard.pdf

Here is a chart that has some breeds listed and there Microns.
Note that they also list Southdown as having a 24 to 31 Micron and the closes breed that you are going to get to a Cashmere (18.5 microns) is going to be the Delaine Merino at 18 to 22 microns.
Last chart
http://gfwsheep.com/blood.count.html

Chris

My understanding is that Southdown and babydoll Southdown are not the exact same breed. It is thought that the babydoll is closer to what the Soutdown breed was in ancient times. And it is documented that babydoll Southdowns provided the original breeding stock that was used to develop the modern full-size Southdown breed. I doubt that the wool is the same.

 

[homewardbound]

I am not even close to knowing fashion, does anyone even wear wool? Way too itchy for me. Cheap wool we have in Indiana, doesn't even pay for the shearing. If not for 4H, sheep are a losing proposition for this area.

I am a native Floridian. What's wool?

 

[thistlebloom]

I wear wool a lot! Only in the winter though...

Chris, interesting info about wool. We had a little ewe my dad bought at auction and she twinned every year for my sister and I to take market lambs to the fair. Every year when we got her sheared they would tell us how wonderful her wool was.
She was a southdown cross and quite a character.

 

[vfem]

Just keep in mind, they get charged out the booty to be 'certified organic' based on their size. They also hire more people to work on a farm to so much by hand. The cost isn't in the food creation itself so much as the extra hands and paperwork.

I was told it would start out at $1700 for me to get a yearly inspection if I want to be certified. I only HAVE to be if I make over $3000 a year in produce sales. So ....not happening!

 

[homewardbound]

Just keep in mind, they get charged out the booty to be 'certified organic' based on their size.

This is probably their biggest expense for being organic and it is just a marketing ploy. If I were a farmer I would do what I do now in my own garden and simply explain what I do to my customers and then price my produce at the prevailing market rate so I know that I am not taking advantage of anyone.

They also hire more people to work on a farm to so much by hand.

Depending on what the farmer is growing I dont know if this is true. You have the same labor plowing a field be it organic or not. Some organic farmers will use the same machinery and the same fuel as non-organic farmers do- some dont so what an organic farmer spends for labor he doesnt have to spend for machinery. And to my knowledge very few fruits and vegetables can be harvested by machinery so it takes just as much hand labor to harvest an organic crop as it does to harvest a non-organic crop.

I was told it would start out at $1700 for me to get a yearly inspection if I want to be certified. I only HAVE to be if I make over $3000 a year in produce sales. So ....not happening!

Explain your methods to your customers and pocket the $1700.

 

[chris09]

I can only go by what I am finding on the net.

http://www.coonamessettfarm.com/id16.html

Their wool is short stapled and fine. It grades at about 55-60, and spinners enjoy working with the wool. Fleece test at 19- 20 microns, which puts it in the class of cashmere.

Wool of 1/2 to 3/8 blood (The term "Blood" Denotes fineness:"more blood" means finer wool) or 56 to 60
(spinning count) is preferred. Medium to Medium/Fine Crimp (The natural waviness in fibers). Average Staple
(length of fiber) 2.5-3 inches long. 24 to 31 Microns (average diameter of the wool fiber)

http://www.nabssar.org/breed_standard_with_photos.html

The Cashmere averages 18.5 or less
http://www.easterncashmereassociation.org/goat-standard.pdf

Here is a chart that has some breeds listed and there Microns.
Note that they also list Southdown as having a 24 to 31 Micron and the closes breed that you are going to get to a Cashmere (18.5 microns) is going to be the Delaine Merino at 18 to 22 microns.
Last chart
http://gfwsheep.com/blood.count.html

Chris

My understanding is that Southdown and babydoll Southdown are not the exact same breed. It is thought that the babydoll is closer to what the Soutdown breed was in ancient times. And it is documented that babydoll Southdowns provided the original breeding stock that was used to develop the modern full-size Southdown breed. I doubt that the wool is the same.

I gave you the link to the Babydoll Southdown standard at the North American Babydoll Southdown Associations here is again http://www.nabssar.org/breed_standard_with_photos.html
It has the microns count right there (24 to 31) and that is the same micron count as the larger New Zealand/ American Southdown.

The third link was to show that the micron count of the larger New Zealand/ American Southdown and Babydoll was no different and that the closes to the Cashmere Micron count is the Delaine Merino at 18 to 22 microns.

Chris

 

[chris09]

I wear wool a lot! Only in the winter though...

Chris, interesting info about wool. We had a little ewe my dad bought at auction and she twinned every year for my sister and I to take market lambs to the fair. Every year when we got her sheared they would tell us how wonderful her wool was.
She was a southdown cross and quite a character.

I love wool and I were it all the time in the winter.

Some where my wife has a book that has all the different breeds of wool and hair sheep and in it and it has all kinds of information about there fleece.
The wife and kids are up in Maryland for the weekend at a Sheep and Wool Festival she had to go to. She was dropping off a bunch of roving that was sold, picking up some stuff from a prepossesser that we use that was going to be there and she interned some raw wool in the show.


Chris

 

[homewardbound]

Wool of 1/2 to 3/8 blood (The term "Blood" Denotes fineness:"more blood" means finer wool) or 56 to 60
(spinning count) is preferred. Medium to Medium/Fine Crimp (The natural waviness in fibers). Average Staple
(length of fiber) 2.5-3 inches long. 24 to 31 Microns (average diameter of the wool fiber)

http://www.nabssar.org/breed_standard_with_photos.html

The Cashmere averages 18.5 or less
http://www.easterncashmereassociation.org/goat-standard.pdf

Here is a chart that has some breeds listed and there Microns.
Note that they also list Southdown as having a 24 to 31 Micron and the closes breed that you are going to get to a Cashmere (18.5 microns) is going to be the Delaine Merino at 18 to 22 microns.
Last chart
http://gfwsheep.com/blood.count.html

Chris

My understanding is that Southdown and babydoll Southdown are not the exact same breed. It is thought that the babydoll is closer to what the Soutdown breed was in ancient times. And it is documented that babydoll Southdowns provided the original breeding stock that was used to develop the modern full-size Southdown breed. I doubt that the wool is the same.

I gave you the link to the Babydoll Southdown standard at the North American Babydoll Southdown Associations here is again http://www.nabssar.org/breed_standard_with_photos.html
It has the microns count right there (24 to 31) and that is the same micron count as the larger New Zealand/ American Southdown.

The third link was to show that the micron count of the larger New Zealand/ American Southdown and Babydoll was no different and that the closes to the Cashmere Micron count is the Delaine Merino at 18 to 22 microns.

Chris

So? All I can go by is what I find on the net. You can find the exact information I quoted on multiple websites. If you think this information is incorrect, take it up with these websites and not with me because I am in no mood to argue just for the sake of arguing.

 

[chris09]

My understanding is that Southdown and babydoll Southdown are not the exact same breed. It is thought that the babydoll is closer to what the Soutdown breed was in ancient times. And it is documented that babydoll Southdowns provided the original breeding stock that was used to develop the modern full-size Southdown breed. I doubt that the wool is the same.

I gave you the link to the Babydoll Southdown standard at the North American Babydoll Southdown Associations here is again http://www.nabssar.org/breed_standard_with_photos.html
It has the microns count right there (24 to 31) and that is the same micron count as the larger New Zealand/ American Southdown.

The third link was to show that the micron count of the larger New Zealand/ American Southdown and Babydoll was no different and that the closes to the Cashmere Micron count is the Delaine Merino at 18 to 22 microns.

Chris

So? All I can go by is what I find on the net. You can find the exact information I quoted on multiple websites. If you think this information is incorrect, take it up with these websites and not with me because I am in no mood to .

There are no, "these websites".
Do you mean the website, as in the one you posted?
Because I have no problem with the links I posted.
You say that you can only go by what is on the internet? Well I gave you three sites on the internet and never considered that the site that you posted and you were or maybe wrong about that information.
I am not arguing just for the sake of arguing, what I am doing is stating facts, you on the other hand are arguing and from what I see you nitpicked nearly every post other than yours.

I would advise to do a little more homework on something that you have no knowledge of and that you are going to try to back up.

Chris

 

[The Mama Chicken]

Okay now, let's all play nice and get back on topic.
I hope to sell some veggies and plant starts at the farmer's market next year. While I do grow things organically I have no intention of getting certified organic, mostly because I can't afford to. I'm hoping that just explaining to my (purely hypothetical, at this point) customers HOW we grow our produce will be good enough.
*Edited because I can't spell this morning.