McPherson County -
The 2008 Farm Bill, passed by Congress in July, officially designated alpaca as farm livestock.
The designation gives credibility to alpaca and defines the animal as a valuable livestock product of the United States.
With the federal designation, alpaca breeders can take advantage of programs offered by the United States Department of Agriculture and other farm programs, which include grants, loans, disaster assistance, end-product marketing and technical assistance.
Jodie Stickney, owner of Smokey Valley Alpacas, an alpaca farm in northeast McPherson County, said she hopes the access to federal grants and low-interest farm loans will draw more people to alpaca ownership and breeding.
“It’s nice to be able to steer customers to financial resources,” Stickney said of the new loans and grants available to alpaca owners.
“Before this, many owners and breeders didn’t have access to low-interest farm loans. Many times people had to use home mortgages to finance start-up costs.”Alpaca are a very distant cousin of the llama. They originated in the Andes Mountains of South America and have slowly made their way into the U.S. They have thick fur that is sheered annually and sold internationally.
Alpacas are intelligent, people-oriented animals. They feed on hay and require only a small mineral tablet. The animals’ waste has no odor and is nitrogen-free.Alpaca wool, which is silky and has no known allergens, occures in 25 different, natural colors. It has become an international commodity and has become a favorite of many high-end designers.
Alpaca fiber is exported internationally, Stickney said, but because there is currently not enough alpaca owners in the U.S. to bulk-export the fiber to companies, owners much contract with private companies on an individual basis.
But Stickney is hopeful that the animal’s new designation as livestock will draw more families to the animal, creating a larger U.S. alpaca population and enticing more companies to become involved in alpaca fiber collection and processing.
“With the designation, the government will now offer low-interest financing for those types of operations and businesses,” Stickney said. “Right now alpaca owners are having to do a lot of that work themselves so it will benefit the owners as well.”
Urban families will also be able to raise alpaca on the same land used for livestock or horse grazing because alpaca will be classified as livestock and not an exotic animal. Stickney said her alpaca farm has also become part of both Kansas and McPherson County’s growing agro-tourism businesses and believes that more alpaca farms would benefit the state by providing a valued export and low-cost rural industry.
“We can only grow from here,” Stickney said. “I have seen interest in alpaca product increase three-fold in the past five years. We are always more than willing to help start up farms and answer any questions about the animals.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
