In Tasmania, where the population of sheep outnumbers the population of people, there exists an extraordinary woolgrower, Nan Bray. As the owner of White Gum Wool farm, Nan is one of the growing numbers of woolgrowers helping to chart a new course for Australian wool that is free from live lamb cutting. 

White Gum Wool has grown a cult international following among eco-conscious knitters seeking a kinder alternative. White Gum Wool is also a trusted supplier of wool to the New York-based sustainable fashion brand Another Tomorrow. Success on the farm, however, wasn’t always the case for Nan.  

Nan, an oceanographer turned wool producer, admits that when she first started out on the farm, she only thought of her sheep as, “little machines that ate grass and grew wool, instead of as the individual animals that they were”. 

As time went on, however, she slowly started to develop an appreciation for the sheep as “beings that have a place in the world”. Together with her concerns over the degradation of the environment, this dawning realisation would be the kickstart she needed to radically change the way she did things as a farmer. 

Nan recalls, “between the environment looking like a moonscape” and the sense that she wasn’t, “doing a good job in terms of nutrition”, she began to do some research.  

This led her to discover the important link between environmental and animal health. “I didn’t know it, but the biodiverse environment that the animal needs to be healthy was precisely the environment I wanted to have on the farm”. 

However, the diversity of food that was needed for healthy sheep was very patchy on her farm. Nan knew her first task would be teaching her “mama sheep” where to forage for food, “so that they could teach their babies” and so on. This meant two things. 

Firstly, Nan started to see the importance of keeping the lambs with their mothers, a sharp contrast to the conventional approach of weaning them at three months. Secondly, it brought Nan into even closer contact with the animals.  

In fact, she spent a lot of time outdoors shepherding her sheep, even sleeping with them overnight, watching as the social structure developed within her intergenerational flocks. She also had names for the sheep she had raised as lambs. Developing an extremely close connection to the animals in this way, she eventually came to regard them as family.  

The change of heart towards the animals was the start of Nan running a single intergenerational flock, which led her to much better nutrition for the animals. “It turns out once you do that, you don’t have problems with intestinal parasites. That in turn means there’s no reason to cut off their tails”.  

According to Nan, it is the intestinal parasite that causes diarrhoea, “which then gets spread across the hocks with the tails and attracts flies”. Although Nan has never mulesed her sheep, good nutrition also mitigated the risks of flystrike. 

Nan’s new approach was all about creating an environment that worked for her, her sheep, and the wild animals too. “It’s got to work as a whole system. We pay a price by dehumanising the animals in our care, it takes a toll on us as well”.  

But the work was just beginning. While her sheep became healthier and even grew 40% more wool, Nan had to dramatically reduce the number of animals on the farm if she was to effectively maintain the abundance of food that was needed and protect the biodiversity of the environment she had regenerated.  

To make things even more complicated, Nan who had come to view her sheep as family, had finally decided she would no longer send them for slaughter. Unfortunately, the harsh reality was that putting her sheep first wasn’t enough for Nan to achieve a profitable wool operation. That was when Nan landed on the idea of hand-knitting yarn. 

But Nan never really saw herself as a good marketer. Instead, she began to tell the story behind her wool. What she wanted was for people to understand here was beautiful wool that was viable – economically, environmentally, and in terms of animal welfare.  

Nan quickly developed a loyal following of knitters. It showed her that if staying true to one’s convictions and values “resonates with people, they’ll buy your yarn.” 

Nan’s understanding rang particularly true with the COVID-19 pandemic, which seemed to bring into focus all the ways on which our modern and fast-paced lifestyles, and unsustainable means of production and consumption, were eroding our health, and that of the animals and the planet. In response, people more than ever were seeking ways to be mindful of the impacts of their consumption, and value a closer connection to nature.  

“Yarn, particularly yarn that you know the story, is a through line right back to the earth... so maybe some of that comes through the yarn to some people.” 

Meanwhile, it was Nan’s convictions and values which led to the serendipitous meeting with Vanessa Barboni Hallik, founder of Another Tomorrow, a premium sustainable fashion label from the US.  

Hallik, who had also left a previous career to start her fashion company, approached Nan with an equally determined mindset for doing the right thing by animals, people, and the environment. 

Today, Nan is not only a supplier of wool to the brand, but a trusted consultant and friend. Together Nan Bray and Another Tomorrow are showing people all over the world that it is possible to produce beautiful clothing that is kinder to animals and the planet.  

Nan Bray’s story is a powerful reminder that when farmers treat animals as sentient beings with kindness and respect, it benefits everyone – animals, people, and the planet. She is proof that better choices are possible.