Alpaca clothing industry hits a high in the Midwest
December 14th, 2009
The Midwest Alpaca Owner Association states that there are now over 81 registered Alpaca farms in Missouri and Kansas. We are talking several hundred of these cute little critters here! One such of these farms, Aconcagua, owned by Patricio and Veronica Mujica has a particular tale.
Driving amongst much of the farmland in the Midwest The Mujica’s farm doesn’t seem too different. However, start driving up to Aconcagua you start to notice subtle differences. Barbed wire replaced by friendlier looking wood fences and seemingly personal water tanks substitute the normal utilitarian ones you see in these parts. This raises your suspicion, but it’s not until you see alpacas grazing instead of cows or sheep that you begin to realize this is no normal Midwestern farm.
Dr. Mujica heard about alpacas from a friend and slowly became immersed in the particular culture of the alpaca industry. Pat, their son, says it began with meaning when “we went to our first show, and I was like, ‘Wow!’ For one thing they’re cute, cuddly things, and then we went to an auction and we saw what they were bringing and we were like, ‘You have got to be kidding me.’” Not long after the family bought two pregnant females.
However the costs of running a farm in the North-east, where the Mujica family started off, were quite high. They knew that if any real profits were to be made they had to relocate. Missouri looked promising. The costs associated with feeding and housing the cute animals were almost halved.
The Mujica farm is primarily concerned with exclusive breeding programs. The national fleece champion of 2000 and 2001 lives there and dozens of alpacas have sold for tens of thousands of dollars because of their superior breeding.
Pat explains it’s not just about the money but it’s the lifestyle he loves. “You walk out your back door and go to work. You look up and your kids are playing right there, but you’re at work. And when you have a rough day, you can get out your lawn chair, come out here and watch the little guys bouncing around in the fields. The juveniles are like little kids. They’re spunky, they get to hopping around like Bambi, in synchronization across the field. They’re adorable.”
While Aconcagua doesn’t produce Alpaca Clothing, it’s nice to see how diverse an industry based on alpacas is, and the stories leading to it are fascinating.