Alpaca Farms Nationwide Celebrate National Alpaca Farm Days

Visitors can also learn how alpacas are a green business opportunity, as they
are animals that are sensitive to their environment in every respect!

While most alpaca farms welcome visitors throughout the year, National Alpaca
Farm Days are sure to include special activities and educational
opportunities.

For a complete list of participating farms and ranches, visit
www.NationalAlpacaFarmDays.com.

About Alpacas
Alpacas, cousins to the llama, are beautiful, intelligent animals native to the
Andean Mountain range of South America, particularly Peru, Bolivia, and
Chile. The United States first commercially imported alpacas
in 1984. There are now more than 180,000 ARI (Alpaca Registry, Inc.)
registered alpacas in North America.

There are two types of alpacas in the United States today.  Although
almost physically identical, what distinguishes the two types of alpacas is
their fiber.  The Huacaya (wa-Ki’-ah) is the more common of the two and
has a fluffy, extremely fine coat.  The Suri (SUR-ee) is the rarer of the
two and has fiber that is silky and resembles pencil-locks.

Adult alpacas stand at approximately 36 inches at the withers and generally
weigh between 150 and 200 pounds. They do not have horns, hooves, claws
or incisors.  Alpacas are alert, intelligent, curious and
predictable.  Social animals that seek companionship, they communicate
most commonly by softly humming.

About Alpaca Fiber
Alpacas are shorn, without harm, every 12 to 18 months. They produced
five to 10 pounds of luxurious fiber.  Long ago, alpaca fiber was reserved
for royalty.  Today it is purchased in its raw fleece form by
hand-spinners and fiber artists.  Knitters buy it as yarn.

Because of its soft texture, alpaca fiber is sometimes compared to
cashmere. Making the fiber even more coveted, it has the luster of
silk. Alpaca fiber is just as warm as, yet 1/3 the weight of wool.
It comes in 22 natural colors, yet can be dyed any desired shade.

Containing no lanolin, alpaca fiber is also naturally hypoallergenic. Most
people who are sensitive to wool find that they can wear alpaca without the
itching or irritation they feel from wool because alpaca fiber is smooth.
Additional performance characteristics include: stretch, water repellency and
odor reduction. For travelers, clothing made from alpaca is desirable
because it is wrinkle-resistant.

Green Alpacas?
Alpacas come in 22 natural colors, but they are all green!

Sensitive to their environment in every respect, alpacas have soft padded feet
instead of hooves and can leave even the most delicate terrain undamaged.
Damage to topsoil decreases long-term soil fertility and in the process, the
soil is eroded and weed invasion is encouraged.

Alpacas prefer to eat tender grasses, which they do not pull up by the roots.
Lacking upper teeth, alpacas “cut” the grass with their bottom teeth and upper
palate. This vegetation cutting encourages the plants’ growth.
Because they are modified ruminants with a three-compartment stomach, alpacas
convert grass and hay to energy very efficiently and stop eating when they are
full, further preserving the landscape on which they live.

However, alpacas do not mind eating brush, fallen leaves and other
“undesirable” vegetation, leaving the “good stuff” for species that do not have
the stomach to digest such roughage.

Alpacas’ pellet-like droppings are PH balanced and are an excellent, natural,
slow-release, low-odor fertilizer. This rich fertilizer is perfect for
growing fruits and vegetables. Because alpacas consolidate their feces in
one or two communal spots in the pasture, it is easy to collect and compost,
and the spread of parasites is controlled.

While alpacas are environmentally friendly … and even beneficial… to the land,
what makes them even more “green” is the fiber they produce.  No chemicals
are employed either during feeding or during the industrial production of
alpaca fleece into fiber. If dying is desired, only 20% of a normal dye
quantity is required.

All fiber from an alpaca can be used. Even the fiber from the lower legs,
belly, neck, etc is being used for things such as natural weed mats to be
placed around trees. Alpaca fiber is biodegradable.

Alpacas require no insecticides, herbicides or fertilizers that pollute the
groundwater.

This press release is
presented without editing for your information. GRIT does not recommend,
approve or endorse the products and/or services offered. You should use your
own judgment and evaluate products and services carefully before deciding to purchase.