Tasmanian wool farm Beaufront has been managed by the von Bibra family for generations and is famous for both its premium Merino wool and its conservation efforts. Here, Julian Von Bibra discusses the farm's processes, social change and partnership with Country Road.
As farmers we are passionate about our land, and our products. We work in nature, much of what we do involves uncertainty.
However, it is so grounding to grow plants, animals and natural fibres. Over time, our business has become more sophisticated with lots of small innovations.
In 2014, we were approached by our wool broker and wool exporter about a novel way of marketing wool.
We took a container load of over 100 bales of wool just from our property, had it processed in Italy ending up with us owning a batch of 17.5-micron Wool Tops.
We then looked for an Italian Spinner to take on this product with a view to providing single sourced wool. We created a great partnership with Tollengo, a family-owned spinning mill with aligned values.
From here, Tollengo reached out to all their customers and companies like Country Road were able to access Tasmanian Merino wool traceable back to a single farm.
Country Road first sourced Beaufront wool around 2016.
I fondly remember the excitement of seeing our wool beautifully recreated in a range of men’s light-weight jumpers in their autumn range.
Knowing where your wool goes focusses our commitment to best practice farming.
Getting closer to your customer in business keeps you aligned to the market, it reinforces our values to respect our land, animals, and our community.
Lots has happened in just my 25 years of farming, including growing awareness of conservation, biodiversity, and broader climate change.
We now have large areas of our property set aside as reserves.
We actively manage tree recruitment, habitat for our native wildlife and ensuring our focus is thinking decades into the future.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers were granted essential service status. Tasmania was fortunate as an island to have a geographical advantage which softened the impact.
We embraced social distancing and travel restrictions by basically focusing on our job as farmers, providing food and fibre and giving COVID a wide berth.
One small silver lining was our adult children quarantining at home with their partners.
Makeshift offices were created throughout the house, we upgraded our internet and we gained two years of lock down avoided access that we would never have dreamed of.
As famers we see our role as custodians and caretakers.
Over time, we have come to understand the generations of careful land management that has shaped this landscape and we wish to nurture this legacy.
Much of our land has high conservation values, rich in biodiversity. Carefully managed, our merino sheep can have minimal impact and we can protect and enhance this ancient landscape.
The Responsible Wool Certification is a way of ensuring for our customers that we have accountability, best practice farming and systems in place that deliver on our commitment to our animals, land, and community.
Sustainability needs to be embraced by all aspects of humanity.
It is great that this is now part of the fashion industry with a growing number of brands supporting recycled materials, carbon neutral product lines and greater awareness of the importance of natural fibres and fashions impact on climate change and biodiversity.
This trend is growing in momentum and there seems to be a greater awareness within the market to reuse, recycle and extend a garments life.
Wool sits well in this space being a natural fibre, it requires less washing and with careful use can last for years.
Country Road are to be congratulated for demanding high standards of animal welfare, supporting Australian farmers and recognising the importance of conservation.