Alpaca Affection
WORTH TWP — Butler County pastures are home to a growing number of exotic South American imports.
Patrick and Christine Scheer are the co-owners of WestPark Alpacas, 1037 West Park Road.
On their 22-acre farm, the Scheers, along with a friend who recently bought into the operation, raise 57 alpacas, a domesticated animal from the South American Andes mountain region.
According to the Alpaca Owners Association, based in Lincoln, Neb., there are almost 14,000 registered alpacas in Pennsylvania.on nearly 700 farms. The state is in the top 5 for number of alpacas.
“We have been doing it here for about eight years, and we've lived on the premises for six,” said Patrick Scheer.
“We are full-time alpaca farmers. I am retired. I was an architect and owned a practice in Orange County, Calif., for 40 years,” he said.
“Christine was born in Prospect, and she went to California and left the farm promising never to go back.”
“She didn't want to come back here as much as I did. We visited her folks extensively, and I fell in love with Pennsylvania, the weather and the differences between it and California,” Scheer said.
After moving to Grove City in 2000, the Scheers decided to become alpaca ranchers.
He said they eventually moved a doublewide trailer onto the farm property.
As for becoming an alpaca breeder, Scheer said, “It seemed like a really good idea at the time. It meant you were active, outdoors. It was something to do in retirement.”
“As far as the financial reward, it seemed from what we were told at the time that alpacas were the answer,” Scheer said.“I think we would agree that is a great lifestyle. It's a financial endeavor that hasn't been adequately marketed in general,” he said.“Alpacas are like the American buffalo. They are the primary life crop to natives in South America,” he said.Alpacas live an average of 16 to 18 years and grow to weigh up to 180 pounds.Scheer said the animals stand three feet to 42 inches high, but with their long necks they can look eye to eye with a human.“They are herd animals, and their whole existence is based on flight and evasion,” Scheer said.“They are very easy to take care of and will forage for themselves,” Scheer said, noting alpacas originated from a region with sparse vegetation 13,000 feet above sea level. He said they augment the alpacas' diet with hay in the winter.“They love the snow and cold,” he added, noting the alpacas will hunker down outside during a snowstorm until they are just mounds in the snow.The heat in summer isn't as good for them, Scheer said, which is why his herd gets sheared around Memorial Day every year.“In the springtime we shear them all the way down to a buzzcut,” he said.“They are very calm animals, very easy to take care of,” said fellow alpaca rancher Renee Ritenour, who with her husband, Rick, has been running the 200-acre Alpaca Palace, 102 Knotingham Lane, in Center Township since 2004.She said her husband owns a lawn care company and noticed the animals during visits to pastures. Now the Ritenours have a 110-member alpaca herd.Both Ritenour and Scheer raise the Huacaya alpacas known for their fluffy coats.Scheer said while alpacas and llamas are often confused for one another, they are not the same animals.“Llamas are twice as tall, heavy and strong as alpacas and twice as aggressive,” he said. “Llamas make great pack animals and guard animals. Alpacas are grown for fur.”A typical alpaca can yield about six pounds of fiber which can be used to make scarves, blankets, sweaters, hats and gloves.Just not on a large scale in the United States.Ritenour said there are many processors in the country that will convert alpaca fiber into yarn and she can even spin some yarn on her farm.Christine Wright, who owns and runs Four Points Alpacas, 6187 Brown Road in Penn Township, with her husband, Don, said the fiber from her 53 alpacas is taken to a mill to be made into yarn and felting which she sells at a store on their farm.Scheer said domestic processors are all small-scale operations, and the country lacks a commercial alpaca textile industry, which means the bulk of harvested alpaca fiber has to be shipped overseas.“Currently, the fiber is collected by a group and sold in exchange for the right to buy products from Peru,” said Scheer.Scheer said alpaca fiber has several advantages over wool.“It has no lanolin, so it is easier to process than sheep's wool. The key words are antimicrobial, it won't harbor germs. It's hypoallergenic.
One of the keys to it is it's not flammable, and it is a sustainable product, ” he said.Which makes it all the more galling that alpaca owners have to ship it overseas in exchange for the right to buy finished products at wholesale prices, he said.“The Alpaca Owners Association, most of the members that I have talked to are particularly disappointed in the organization because they have done nothing to promote the fiber,” he said.“They have concentrated their efforts on the show aspect and the money to be made in breeding,” said Scheer.“Our hope is we will get enough owners interested, to keep it (the fiber) here in the States,” he said.
