A new law recognizing alpacas as livestock in Ohio will turn farmers' hobbies into profitable businesses, supporters and farmers said.
Athens resident Marilyn Wentworth said she has a five-year plan to move her horse farm to another property and prepare her three acres to hold 20 alpacas. Farmers raise alpacas for their fleece, which is sold to textile manufacturers to make soft sweaters and other warm clothing.
With the state's approval of the alpaca as a livestock animal, Wentworth said she will be able to apply for more grants, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) administered by the Athens Soil and Water Conservation District, to help set up her farm.
She also will be able to ask for bank loans, which Ohio Alpaca Breeders Association President Joe Osborn said have been difficult for alpaca farmers to obtain.
Until now Wentworth has prepared for the arrival of her first three alpacas on her own, paying people to help build sheds.
An established alpaca farmer in Athens said he hopes the new law will encourage the Ohio Department of Agriculture to help create a formal market for the fiber. Each farm now has to market the fiber individually, said Keith Kittle, owner of Pleasant Hill Farm in Athens. One alpaca produces enough fleece to make about six handmade sweaters, which sell for an average of $100-200 each, Wentworth said, adding a sweater requires about $96 worth of yarn.
Kittle said he started raising alpacas on his eight-acre farm about four years ago because they were easy to raise, earth-friendly and not a slaughter-for-profit animal. His goal is to increase his herd from 10 alpacas to 20.
Ohio has the largest number of alpacas in the United States'approximately 20 percent of the national population, Osborn said. The yearly Buckeye Alpaca Show in Columbus is one of the biggest alpaca shows in the country, he added.
Livestock expeditions at state fair grounds can receive financial assistance through the Ohio Department of Agriculture with the new law, said Cindy Brown, department spokeswoman.
The new law also will open up farm grants, EQIP grants and any assistance the Ohio Department of Agriculture has for farming and livestock, Osborn said. Before this the alpaca was not categorized.
It will open up doors to get into the alpaca industry
he added.
Representative Thomas Patton, R-Strongsville, said he introduced the bill because the growing number of alpaca farms will benefit the state economy. There were 910 alpaca farms employing 2,300 people and generating $42 million into the state economy in 2006, the last year of record, he said. The law also classifies the llama as an official state livestock animal.
I can only hope this will cause a great increase in the industry Patton said.
Raising alpacas can be a more rewarding retirement plan than the stock market, too, Wentworth said.
You can see your investment growing she said.
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Keith Kittle feeds Peter, one of 10 alpacas on the farm.
New Ohio law makes selling animalsG
