MEET YOUR DIAMOND FIBRE EXPERTS

We are Michael and Susie Woodward and together with our four children, Kylie, John, Jack, and Charlie, we own and operate Mohair Fibres NZ Ltd. We also own and operate Cowgora Hills, a 170ha fully self-contained hill property in the Otorohanga District, in the North Island of New Zealand. We milk 300 cows full season once-a-day (OAD) and run 250 Angora Goats as well as our young stock for the dairy platform.

Our introduction to mohair and Angora goats started with Michael’s Dad, John Woodward, in the early 1980’s. John was intrigued with the Angora goat and its ability to control weeds and produce a quality fibre, mohair, that had value. John went on to run one of the two main fibre warehouses in the country and pave the way for what is now Mohair Fibres NZ Ltd.

Susie hails from the USA, and having only grown up with dairy cows, she was keen to learn more about the Angora goat. In 2016, Michael and Susie purchased 10 pregnant angora does which became the foundation for their current flock in Otorohanga today. 

With our enthusiasm growing in the NZ mohair industry, and John’s desire to swing a few more golf clubs, it became apparent that there would be a need for someone to carry on with the fibre marketing business that John spent so long establishing. Michael and Susie decided it was time to learn some new skills and so began putting together a plan to take on the mohair classing/exporting business from John. 

As a broker of mohair for our clients, we wanted to create a supportive environment for our producers and make sure we still had an invested interest in producing the fibre as well. That led to us building a new warehouse on our property in Otorohanga, which sits alongside our angora goat flock.