CLYDE PARK — You might be familiar with alpaca shearing, but did you know there’s a man right here in Montana who also shears bison? And has made it into a successful business?
“This bail right here, that is 500 pounds of bison fiber that is going to Italy,” said Peter Connelly.
WATCH: Montana man turns bison shearing into a business, calls it the last unexplored natural fiber
Connelly has been shearing for 21 years.
“About 13 years ago, I had an opportunity to start shearing bison hides,” said Connelly. “It was the most amazing thing. Like, they look rough and rugged, which they are… but when you get into their winter coat that they grow, it’s as soft as cashmere.”
As Connelly explains, he was first contracting for companies as a bison shearer. But, he noticed they would mostly use the bison fibers for beanies and socks. He saw more potential.
“Bison has been gate-kept essentially by the people that we were shearing for,” said Connelly. “There’s a lot of interest. It’s the last natural fiber that has not been explored.”
So, he decided to expand, partnering with various companies to do research and development with bison fiber.
“We know what we want to do with it, but we want to see what other people can do with it,” said Connelly.
In addition to selling bison fiber, Connelly founded a company last October called Ember Heritage to sell his own products, such as shirts and blankets.
“We’ve built this company vertically. So, at a point in our manufacturing chain, we can sell,” said Connelly.
Besides breaking into an untapped market, Connelly says bison shearing helps reduce waste, as it is a byproduct of the meat industry.
“If we don’t shear it, it goes to the tannery, and the tannery just uses chemicals to melt off the fiber to get to the leather,” he said.
End-to-end, Connelly says shearing bison benefits everyone involved.
“What we’re doing by basically renting the hide from them is adding value to the animal so the rancher gets more money when he brings the animal in on the hoof,” said Connelly.
“All the way around, everyone is doing better because we just added one more step,” he added.
If you’re interested in learning more about Ember Heritage, visit this link.
