Are you interested in the Cashmere Goat. This is a short article about the Cashmere Goat Association.
The Cashmere Goat Association (CGA) is a non-profit corporation organized to provide education about Cashmere goats and their fiber. Since 1992, CGA has brought together breeders, fiber artists, and others to learn more about Cashmere and Cashmere goats.
CGA sponsors educational workshops as well as goat and fiber shows. Dates of upcoming events can be found on our website.
Social media: facebook @ Cashmere Goat Association Intstagram @cashmeregoatassociation youtube @cashmeregoatassociationCGA
Connect with us: website: cashmeregoatassociation.org
Check out the CGA to find information about Cashmere goats. Our website includes: directories of members and breeders, a calendar of events, the North American Cashmere Goat Breed Standard, and access to the Cashmere Goat Association Registry.
Join CGA and you will receive Hoofprints, our digital newsletter. Hoofprints is published three times a year with insightful articles for working with Cashmere goats.
What Does CGA Do?
The Cashmere Goat Association (CGA) is a non-profit corporation organized to provide education about Cashmere goats and their fiber. Since 1992, CGA has brought together breeders, fiber artists, and others to learn more about Cashmere and Cashmere goats.
CGA sponsors educational workshops as well as goat and fiber shows. Dates of upcoming events can be found on our website.
Connect with us: website: cashmeregoatassociation.org
Social media: facebook @ Cashmere Goat Association Intstagram @cashmeregoatassociation youtube @cashmeregoatassociationCGA
Cashmere Comes from What?
You may be surprised to learn that goats produce cashmere, one of the softest natural fibers you will ever feel. Cashmere is the soft and downy undercoat of goats.
To collect cashmere, the soft fiber must be separated from the coarse guard hair. Each goat produces 2 to 6 ounces of cashmere annually, which can be either shorn or combed when the fiber is shed every spring.
The quality of the fleece is determined by its length (1.25″ minimum), diameter (no more than 19 microns), style (”crimpiness”), and uniformity. Cashmere goat breeders also seek high production, consistency within fleeces, and good differentiation between the down and guard hairs, so it can be easily de-haired.
Fleece color is a matter of personal preference and colors include white, grey, black, and various shades of brown. Cashmere fiber can also be dyed to produce a range of colors.
While cashmere goats are bred for the highest quality cashmere, they are also bred to be well-muscled meat goats. Like all goats, they like to eat weeds, bark, leaves and other browse, making them excellent land-clearing livestock.
Cashmere producing goats have traditionally been found in Asian countries. However, in the 1970’s, Australians realized their feral goats produced cashmere down. Cashmere goats were imported to the U.S. in the late 1980’s and interbred with Spanish meat goats.
Selective breeding programs have greatly improved the quality of cashmere and the North American Cashmere goat is a newly established breed with criteria for high quality cashmere.
The cashmere goat industry in the United States is in its infancy and cannot meet commercial demand for cashmere. There are however smaller scale U.S. shops that specialize in using American cashmere.
There is also a growing cottage industry of fiber artists who spin with American-grown cashmere. Spinners interested in working with cashmere can start a small herd of goats or source fiber from local cashmere growers. Fiber artists love cashmere for its extreme softness and warmth. Cashmere can be 7 to 8 times warmer than Merino wool.
FLYER ABOUT THE CASHMERE GOAT ASSOCIATION: CLICK HERE