The cost starts with that part of the process that can't be automated-- raising sheep. No one has yet to find a better way of "growing" wool than on the back of a sheep. The same with "harvesting that wool-- it's done by hand. So, before it ever sees the dark satanic mills, the wool has gone through a fairly cost intensive organic process. Next time you are in your local Piggly-Wiggly grocery store compare the cost of an organic tomato with a non-organic tomato. That's why an all-wool 8 yard tartan kilt costs what it does.