|
A herd of male alpacas gather to graze in one of the fields. The alpacas are part of a herd of 34 at Camillo Valley.
Dan Roberts feeds some of the female alpacas at Camillo Valley. The animals are being raised mostly for their fleecy coats.
Sharon Roberts gets ready to rub noses with one of her alpacas at Camillo Valley Farm, which she and her husband, Dan, own. |
BY CATHY JETT
While most people wonder where their savings went in the recession, Sharon and Dan Roberts just have to look out their window.
There, grazing contentedly on their 131/2-acre Camillo Valley Alpaca Farm near Dahlgren, is the herd of 34 alpacas they're raising for their fine, silky fleece and as breeding stock.
"There's nothing better than sitting on the front porch and watching the animals pronking across the field," said Sharon Roberts, explaining that alpacas pronk, or hop up and down on all four legs, when they're happy. "There's nothing better than watching that joy and knowing you've provided an environment that made that possible."
Roberts' mother and three sons, she'll tell you, swear that she got into alpaca farming because she'd hit menopause. But she says she was mesmerized by the animals after staring into the large, curious brown eyes of a mother alpaca at a fall bazaar in Maryland six years ago.
"She seemed to be staring into my soul, and I got the distinct impression I passed whatever test she was silently administering," Roberts wrote in an essay on the farm's Web site, camillo valley.com. "I was falling quickly! I came out of my trance to realize my husband was now standing by my side and asking, 'What's that?'"
Dan Roberts, then a field technician for United Rentals, pulled her away but agreed to look up alpacas on the Internet when they got home. A few days later, he'd downloaded so much information about the investment potential and tax advantages that it took her several nights to read it all.
"That began a ritual. Each night found us in front of the computer 'oohing' and 'ahhing' over the animals and eagerly reading stories of how busy professionals, grandmothers, truck drivers, newlyweds and millionaires had found these animals and started their own alpaca adventures," wrote Roberts, a resource teacher at Maurice J. McDonough High School in Charles County, Md.
"The next logical step," she added, "was to go visiting."
The couple, who owned a waterfront home on Cobb Island, Md., found their field of dreams on land that had been leased to the former Camillo Vineyards. The vines were no longer there, but the Robertses decided to name their farm after the winery, incorporate grape vines in their logo and name all the alpacas bred on the farm after grapes or wine.
One of the babies due to be born this October, for example, will be named Hot Jazz after a jalapeño pepper-spiked wine from nearby Oak Crest Vineyard & Winery.
"I just love the name so much," said Sharon Roberts as she stroked the nose one of her pregnant white females. "Viognier, are you going to give me Hot Jazz?"
Alpacas, which are native to the Andes, were first commercially imported to the United States in 1984, according to the Alpaca Owners & Breeders Association. There are now more than 100,000 registered alpacas in North America.
They're raised mainly for their woolly coats, which annually produce five to 10 pounds of fiber so luxurious that it was once reserved for royalty. Today it is purchased in its raw state by hand-spinners and fiber artists who often seek out fleece from specific alpacas year after year. Knitters buy it as yarn.
"Nationally, there's not enough fiber being produced to warrant large textile mills using it, so there are lots of mini-mills that have sprung up," said Deborah Woodcock of Pigeon Creek Alpacas on 20 acres near Lake Anna in Spotsylvania County. "It's a niche, home-based business. One just started in Ruckersville."
Americans also raise alpacas because it's an attractive business and farming opportunity, according to the AOBA. The animals are easy and relatively inexpensive to raise, yet the price of breeding stock is rising. And the federal government offers a number of tax breaks for people who want to keep their land in farm use.
Woodcock, the Robertses and Linda Glass of SpyGlass Alpacas in Midland market their farms through the Virginia Alpaca Experience, an organization they formed as both a support group and a joint marketing tool. Each has a different area of expertise, and they're able to offer customers who want to buy alpacas a bigger pool to choose from than they could individually.
All three farms eventually plan to market their fleece and finished goods such as scarves and gloves at a gift shop the Robertses will open in their new barn, and Sharon Roberts will offer classes there in such things as spinning and needlework.
The Robertses also plan to show off some of their animals at the State Fair on Sept. 26 for Alpaca Farm Day, and Woodcock will begin selling things she's knitted out of alpaca fleece at the Mineral Farmers Market next month.
Eventually, the Robertses would like to be well positioned to sell their alpacas' fleece when the commercial market for the fiber takes off. But, for now, they're just enjoying the farm lifestyle.
"We come home and there's no stress," said Sharon Roberts. "We just look in their faces. They're pretty cool."
Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com
