From farm to sweater: Mill turns alpaca, llama fiber into yarn

TASWELL, Ind. — If you have alpacas as a pet or for 4-H, selling its fleece won’t get you rich quick. But it can cover the costs of raising the animal.

Fiber from alpacas and llamas can be used to make anything from yarn to insulation.

Ty and Lindsey Higgins, owners of Red Hill Fiber Mill, raise alpacas and process fleece in southern Indiana. They led a webinar hosted by Purdue Extension.

“We farm (alpacas) because they’re sustainable,” Ty Higgins said. “It’s not like a pig or cow, where you raise them and butcher them. Alpacas tend to give you value year over year. That animal is always producing.

“You lose a little quality over time with the age of the animal, but not significantly. That one animal should be giving you revenue every year.”

The Higginses started raising alpacas as a hobby, but it snowballed into a much bigger operation.

“At our mill, we found value in providing services to 4-H families that might only have three or four alpacas,” Ty Higgins said. “We’re about building relationships with local farmers.”

The Higginses can help 4-H and other farm families utilize the fiber from their animals.

If you decide to have alpaca fiber made into yarn, there are several ways to add value to your product — like working with a local artist who makes sweaters, Ty Higgins said.

You can also sell products at local markets.

“We’ve done really well this year at farmers markets,” he said. “We don’t do it every weekend. Early spring and late fall are good times.

“This year we took a couple animals to let people pet. It’s a great selling point because they can see the animals and know the fiber came from those animals.”

The Higginses also have done sales online via their website and Facebook.

“We do this because we’re trying to expand the fiber community and share how awesome alpaca is,” Ty Higgins said. “The more troops we have on the ground to spread the word and pass on the love of the fiber, the better it is for everyone that farms alpacas.”

Learn more about Red Hill Fiber Mill at www.redhillfiber.com.