If you’ve never seen alpacas close up, you’re missing something very special! I’ve had a couple of opportunities to get ‘up close and personal’ with small and friendly alpaca herds. The last one was at Silver Oak Farm Alpacas (www.SilverOakAlpacas.com), owned and operated by Pam and Mark Welty in Ashby, Massachusetts.

Alpacas are ‘camelid’ natives of South America and fit very well into ‘sustainable’ agriculture. A few of their ‘earth friendly’ strengths are:

• Eco-friendly fiber: Because it is lanolin free, raw alpaca fiber requires minimal processing. Alpaca fiber’s wide array of beautiful natural colors can be knitted and woven without the addition of chemical dyes.
• Resource conservation: Alpacas consume small amounts of water and forage, owing to their ‘camelid’ genetics.
• Land management: Alpacas cut grass with their lower incisor teeth instead of pulling grass up by the roots. Their soft-padded feet minimize soil and plant damage. And their manure provides a high-quality garden fertilizer.

Numerous alpaca farms dot the New England countryside. They’re easily located through www.neaoba.org (Caution: You will want to own some once you see them!)

Alpaca breeding is the business focus of Silver Oak Farm Alpacas. Boarding of alpacas (also called ‘agistment’) is another service they provide. And every spring, their Huacaya and Suri alpacas are shorn, and their fiber is processed into yarn, by small New England mills, for sale in Silver Oak’s on-farm store. The ultra-soft natural-colored yarn is packaged in skeins, labeled with the name of the alpaca which produced the luxurious fiber. You can actually knit a scarf from the natural fleece of ‘Olivia’ the alpaca!

As you can see, alpaca farming is quite ‘green.’ Alpacas make a very small mess (with communal ‘poop zones’). Their lightweight bodies (140-160 lbs. average) make them easy to manage. And believe it or not, their quiet ‘humming’ won’t annoy your neighbors. You might even want to hum along!

By C. R. Lindemer