Processing

If you're an alpaca fiber producer, you'll want to be a member of a fiber coop.  In Oregon we are proud to be members of the Alpaca Fiber Coop of N. America   http://www.afcna.com/ . The best aspect of sending our fiber to AFCNA is that we can purchase alpaca products at wholesale and sell to our customers at retail.

AFCNA markets under the name America's Alpaca.  You can find their online store at http://www.americasalpaca.com/ Our coop makes some of the best winter socks made in the USA.

Have you heard?  The United Nations FAO has declared 2009 "the Year of Natural Fibres".  Don't miss the discussion on alpaca fiber atwww.naturalfibres2009.org/.

In the US, North Carolina leads the country in textile production.  In 2008, I had the privelege of attending the Alpaca Fiber Symposium at the Gaston College of Textiles.  The Alpaca Fiber Symposium had 155 attendees from 26 states and Canada.  It was a dynamic opportunity to see the many new developments in processing alpaca fiber into textiles!

Gaston College of Textiles is a major center of textile research and development.  This school has shown leadership in the alpaca community by hosting this outstanding event.  Gaston College of Textiles is creating a new curriculum on the Community Mill concept and developing a business plan for it.

Here are some of our favorite alpaca fiber processing mills:

Klamath River Mill, run by Lynn Roy http://www.klamathriveralpacas.com/

Suri-Al Fiber Mill http://www.suri-al-pacas.com/