PHOTO BY NICOLE SMITH
Driftless Tannery is a social enterprise that was founded in 2020. This small women-owned company strives to treat animals, the environment, and their customers with respect. The Tannery offers natural tanning services for sheepskin, goat, deer and elk hides. Hides are tanned in the most eco-friendly way using gentle soaps and bark tannins, not the heavy metals or harsh chemicals found in the industrialized tanning industry. Farmers and hunters all over the United States send in their raw, salted hides to be tanned. The two owners, Bethany Storm and Danielle Dockery, work alongside employees to produce around 40 beautifully tanned hides every week. The finished hides are returned to the owners for their personal use or sale. The Tannery also gathers hides from local butchers keeping them from becoming a part of the waste stream. Seamstresses working with the Tannery turn imperfect hides into pillows, mittens, and weavings.
Driftless Tannery offers a clean alternative to hide tanning for sheep and goat farmers, bringing them beautiful, healthy, quality value-added items to their operations, while removing these gorgeous hides from the waste stream associated with animal agriculture.
Driftless Tannery also offers beautiful, naturally tanned sheepskin and other heirloom textiles for eco-conscious consumers at their shop in Argyle, in their online shop, or in person at seasonal markets across the country.
“I am a wife, mother, biologist and small farmer. The animals on my farm are raised with compassion and die with dignity. After having many of my own flock’s skins tanned by large scale chemical-heavy processors, I sought to find a different way. As with my farming practices, I’ve looked to the past to find out how our ancestors did it. Driftless Tannery was born out of a desire to respect the earth, while preserving and honoring my animals.”
“I moved to the driftless region of Wisconsin in 2016 from the Chicagoland area after spending 32 years working in the international transportation industry. On our homestead my husband and I raise laying hens, meat birds, turkeys and lamb for our freezer. We grow our own veggies and raise bees. I’ve rescued a small herd of alpacas and have two breeding ewes who help us with land management. I feel so blessed to be part of the amazing group of women in the county, working towards making our land a better place for all.”