When I was first asked to develop this website I realized that I needed to do a lot of  research. I new very little about the alpaca industry. I started by stopping at a few alpaca farms and just talking. Several of these had only three or four alpacas. The comments and requests of these small alpaca breeders prompted me to continue with this website. Since then I have talked to alpaca farms of all sizes, fiber processors, spinners, weavers, knitters and other related businesses. The most talked about area of the alpaca industry is fiber sales. On this page I am going to share some their comments, questions, concerns and opinions.

From The Owners

These are typical comments made by many of the alpaca owners that I have talked to.

Who will by my fiber?     What is my raw fiber worth?     Where can I have products made from my fiber?    

 A couple of small owners went as far as to say "I was misled to the value and demand for alpaca fiber when I bought my animals."

I thought I could sell my fiber for enough to pay my feed bill.

I am very disappointed in the fiber co-ops.

I wish I would have learned more about care and handling of alpacas before I bought my first ones.

The prices of the imported alpaca products are much cheaper than the American fiber products. 

Is there a good way to know what color of cria I will get? (Predicting Cria Color)

From The Fiber Mills/Processors

Owners will send in three fleeces to be processed: they will be three different colors or three different qualities.

Owners need to keep their alpacas cleaner o there will be less hay and dirt in the fleece

Owners need to be better educated on what effects the quality of their fiber

There needs to be a a more consistent standard sorting raw fiber

From Knitters, Spinners & Weavers

We would use more alpaca yarn but it is often hard to find enough of the same color for projects.

The quality and cleanliness of the raw fiber varies to much.

What about your thoughts. Send your thoughts, concerns, ideas, hints to:

ohioalpacas4u

440 West Main Street

Sidney, OH 45365

Email: tcm@agriculture4u.com

My Thoughts

From The Outside Looking In