Alpaca shearing started on May 9th through the 11th this year, with 9 farms and volunteers coming together.  We had a great time helping 150 alpacas and llamas transform into their Summer attire.  Visitors came through to watch the shearing and pick out their fleece, new crews talked about our event and an overdue mother gave birth shortly after being shorn.  We even had a skunk take part in the festivities, though he didn't seem to enjoy the alpacas chasing after him.  Alpaca shearing is a lot of fun and a lot of work!

Most alpacas have 5 to 10 lbs of fleece that is separated according to its quality / fineness of fiber and color (there are 22 natural colors of alpacas).  We shear once a year in late spring depending on the weather.  We then use the fiber to make alpaca products, such as alpaca socks, sweaters, hats, alpaca saddle pads, blankets, yarn and scarves. The Blanket, or where the saddle would go on a horse and part of the rump, are shorn first. This is the primary, softest fleece on the alpaca. It is used for alpaca clothing close to the skin, such as a hat, sweater, scarf or under shirt.  The neck, legs and belly are used as "Seconds" which are not quite as soft and vary in length. It is used for alpaca rugs , socks , alpaca saddle blanket and felting. The entire alpaca shearing process usually takes about 10 minutes. Why is alpaca fleece so valuable?   Alpaca Fiber is as soft as cashmere and warmer, lighter and stronger than wool.  There are more natural colors (22) than any other fiber producing animal.  This cashmere-like fleece, once reserved for Incan royalty, is now enjoyed around the world.  The fiber is a thermal insulator and absorbs ambient humidity, thus affording greater protection and comfort in a variety of climates. The fiber will not burn unless it is in direct contact with a flame and therefore offers the wearer greater safety.  High strength and elasticity make this fiber highly durable and lasting longer. Fiber Classification:  Royal Alpaca - finer than 18 microns  Super Fine / Baby Alpaca - finer than 20 microns Fine - finer than 25 micron Medium - under 30 micron Strong - 30 microns and greater Mixed Pieces - short fibers, coarser than 32 microns - used for felting  * Most human hair is at least 100 microns, 5 times thicker than alpaca fiber

Alpacas get sheared for summer weather By DANIEL PERSON Chronicle Staff Writer It’s that time of year again, when the eerie warning call of the alpaca can be heard in corners of the southern Gallatin Valley. In a barn just off South Cottonwood Road, nine farms have brought their alpacas to be shorn of their oppressive coats, a bargain in which the farmer gets all the fiber that many prefer over wool and the alpacas get to feel the summer breeze. You’d be excused for confusing an alpaca with a llama. They’re structured quite the same, but llamas are about twice the size of alpacas and have a different coat. And the coat is important.

Brought to the United States in the early 1980s, alpacas are now tightly regulated by their owners, Budd said. No alpacas have been brought in to the county since 1996, a precaution that allows alpaca ranchers to constantly improve the quality of fiber the species grow (they only let a select few males sire). “The fiber of five years ago is not nearly as good as it is today,” said James Budd, who raises about 100 alpacas on his Gallatin Valley farm. These days, Budd does not shear his own alpacas. He wears a battle wound on his lower calf where a llama kicked a blade into it.

Now, he and other farmers get together this time of year for shearing days. Alpaca after alpaca are brought into the barn for haircuts. Like a youngster getting a booster shot, the shearing can be a little uncomfortable for alpacas. They are stretched out, ropes pulling each leg to keep them from squirming. Marty Hofmann spends about five minutes buzzing each alpaca with an electric razor, careful not to nick the skin. When the job is complete, the alpaca is released and trotted out to pasture where it can commiserate with his or her equally goofy-looking brethren.

Hofmann is a journeyman shearer from Malta. He and partner Jason Wiens have been shearing sheep and alpacas between here and Minnesota this spring, Hofmann said. He’s been shearing for 13 years, and has come to notice some differences between sheep and alpacas, as well as the people that raise them.

“The biggest difference between sheep people and alpaca people is alpaca people don’t care how fast you go, as long as they look good. Sheep people don’t care how they look, as long as you go fast,” he said.

Budd said that’s because when it comes to selling an alpaca, it helps if it has a clean shave to it. Also, all the fiber on an alpaca can be used, Budd said, so it just pays to get every last piece.

The Budd family’s Alpacas of Montana is a vertically integrated business, raising alpacas and making yarn with the fiber. Along the way, the company sells alpacas, the yarn and a few pieces of clothing made from the fiber, like hats. Like everything these days, the market is a little soft, but not in crisis, Budd said.

“It’s a niche market. People are looking for that homegrown fiber,” he said.           Call James and Sarah Budd  (406) 579-4055

Now we will sort the fleece into colors, grade it based on softness and send it off to mills and hand spinners.  The fleece will be back on our farm in several months, to be hand knit into alpaca socks, hats, scarves, horse saddle blankets, rugs and other products.