Author:
Kristen Schmitt

Date of Publication:
May 30, 2014

Publication:
Modern Farmer

Excerpt:
“Alpacas will always be a fiber-first industry. Nobody can raise alpacas just for meat. Cost wise, you just can’t grow them out to a full-size animal only for meat and harvest them like that,” says Roger Welck, owner and farmer of Twisted Suri Alpaca Ranch in Princeton, Minnesota.

Twisted Suri Alpaca Ranch is one of the first operations to create a true livestock model by utilizing all aspects of the alpaca – from fiber to meat to leather to compost. “I believe that it’s not right to put an animal down for just one product. It’s disrespectful to throw waste away,” says Welck. “The hides are turned into leather, the organs are freeze-dried for pet treats and I mix the alpaca manure with coffee grounds and make my own vermicompost. I really use everything, from one end of this animal to the other.”

Read the rest of the article: https://modernfarmer.com/2014/05/alpaca-red-meat/