Cashmere (Australian)

Australian cashmere goats are not a breed in the conventional sense — they are rangeland or crossbred goats that have been selected, over multiple generations of deliberate breeding, for the production of a significant undercoat of fine cashmere fibre. Unlike the Angora, which is a distinct breed that exclusively produces mohair, any goat can potentially produce a cashmere undercoat; the challenge is finding and breeding from individuals that produce enough of it, and fine enough, to be commercially valuable.

The cashmere undercoat (the fine fibre, technically called the "duvet") is the insulating layer that goats in cold climates grow in autumn and shed in spring. In wild goats and feral rangeland animals, this undercoat is present but typically fine in micron count but low in yield. The Australian cashmere industry, which has been developing since the 1970s and accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s, has systematically identified high-cashmere-producing animals within the rangeland population and established selection programs to progressively increase yield and maintain fineness across the Australian cashmere flock.

Australian cashmere is internationally recognised for its quality. The defining characteristic of true cashmere is fibre fineness — commercial cashmere must be below 18.5 microns (international standard), and Australian production consistently achieves 14 to 17 microns in well-bred animals. This puts it in the premium tier of global cashmere production, comparable to the finest Mongolian and Inner Mongolian cashmere.

The economics of cashmere production in Australia involve harvesting the undercoat by combing or shearing in late winter/early spring (as the animal begins to shed naturally), dehairing the fibre to remove coarse guard hairs (which can only be done industrially), and selling the dehaired fibre to processors or direct to spinners and manufacturers. The per-kilogram price of dehaired Australian cashmere is among the highest of any natural fibre — but yields per animal are low (typically 100 to 300 grams of dehaired cashmere per animal per year), requiring significant animal numbers to create a commercially meaningful production volume.

Annual yield of 100 to 300 grams of dehaired cashmere per animal is the typical commercial range. Fibre must be dehaired industrially — the dehaired fibre is what is commercially sold as cashmere; the raw (before dehairing) fibre also contains coarse guard hairs that must be mechanically removed. Australian cashmere sells through specialist brokers and direct to spinners; the industry is smaller than the mohair industry and requires more active market development by individual producers. Cashmere collection is by combing in late winter (which yields higher quality fibre but more labour) or shearing and then dehairing.

Cashmere goats in Australia are managed similarly to rangeland meat goats for most of the year. The critical management period is autumn and winter, when the cashmere undercoat is growing — adequate nutrition during this period directly affects fibre yield. Supplementary feeding of 200 to 300 grams of grain per day through the cashmere growing season (approximately April to September) improves yield significantly. Harvest timing is critical — combing too late means the animal has already shed part of the cashmere naturally; too early reduces yield. Watch for the first natural shedding around the face and neck as the cue to commence harvest.