Noah Johnson Daily Press Kush and Pronk Farm in Rapid River now have four alpacas as part of their growing fiber farm.

RAPID RIVER — A local couple is working to bring a fiber mill to the Upper Peninsula.

Dominic and Jennifer Guzzetta, owners of Kush and Pronk Farm in Rapid River, recently posted a survey on social media, seeking feedback from the community to see if there is interest and/or support for a fiber mill in the U.P. There are several fiber farms across the U.P. However, they are unable to process the fiber collected from sheep, alpacas, rabbits and other animals.

“There’s not any fiber mills, so there’s not actual a way of processing the raw wool material into a finished yarn or otherwise finished wearable product,” Jennifer said.

She explained that fiber farmers needing processing are either doing it by hand, which takes a significant amount of time, or they have to pay a large amount to have their fiber shipped to a fiber mill downstate or out-of-state.

Even if farmers send the materials to be processed, Dominic said it could take a year to 18 months before the processed goods are returned.

“There’s a huge just bottleneck of a bunch of products available, but it’s not in a usable fashion. It’s in a very raw fashion,” Jennifer explained.

Part of the reason there are no fiber mills in the U.P. is the cost of getting the necessary equipment. Dominic estimated that it would cost around $200,000 for the equipment alone, not including installation or routine maintenance.

Luckily, Dominic is an experienced journeyman millwright, meaning he’s spent a significant amount of time maintaining, installing, repairing, and moving machinery in an industrial setting.

“I’ll build the building, I’ll build the machines even,” he said.

Their plan involves approaching junk or scrap yards that have pieces of equipment that are no longer usable and refurbishing them to build machinery needed to operate a fiber mill.

It’s going to take some time to get the mill up and running, but the couple is optimistic about completing it in a year to 18 months, depending on funding and sourcing the needed machinery.

The Guzzettas said they started this project because they saw a need for it in the U.P.

In addition to Dominic’s knowledge as a millwright, Jennifer is a certified veterinary technician, making the two the perfect fit to start a fiber mill. They currently operate a fiber farm with rabbits and newly acquired alpacas.

“It’s kind of been years of building towards it, but ultimately, it’s a mix of both of our careers, and it fits a niche market that kind of died off,” Dominic said.

Dominic and Jennifer explained the fiber-making process, which starts out as raw cut material from sheep or other animals. The raw material is placed on a table where the fibers are inspected. Then, the usable fibers are put in an industrial-sized washing machine for cleaning. The washed fiber then goes through the carding phase, where a machine or handheld tools use wire teeth to comb through the fibers, align them, and remove any remaining impurities. The material is then placed on a spinner, creating a bundle and turning the fiber into yarn.

The key to the Guzzettas’ plan is to produce the yarn locally by working with farms and other businesses in the area.

“It can open up the pathways for a lot of other industries to start up too, and actually, to get the Upper Peninsula to be more locally owned,” Dominic said.

They explained the difference between authentic yarn, like they make, and synthetic yarn found in stores.

“I’d say 98 percent of it is synthetic,” Jennifer said. She explained that you may be able to find a wool blend or cotton, but most of the products will be acrylic or polyester, which is essentially plastic, according to Dominic.

However, authentic wool is anti-bacterial and anti-microbial, meaning it lasts longer and doesn’t need to be washed as often as other materials. She said typical clothing will ‘remember’ the odors and smells it comes into contact with, eventually leaving a funky smell as the clothes experience more use.

“One thing that I’ve always been taught is plastic remembers. So if you ever like use like a plastic leftover container and you put spaghetti in it, it’s always going to have that little tinge of red, right? It’s always going to remember that little bit of tomato sauce that was in there,” Jennifer explained.

Authentic wool does not remember odors and can last longer than plastic materials such as acrylic or polyester.

“You can leave out a (wool garment) in the sunlight, and it will naturally, through the sunlight and the actual microbial process of just being wool, it’ll get rid of the bacteria on it. The bacteria cannot thrive and can’t grow, and it ends up dying off,” she said.

Another benefit of wool is that it’s warmer than other materials.

The general public can help the Guzzettas by completing the fiber mill community interest survey. The survey can be found at https://forms.gle/QM9fbLMJuns6uajp8 and takes less than five minutes to complete. For more information, visit kushandpronk.wordpress.com.