Kentucky is known for horses. The fastest, most powerful, and most beautiful thoroughbreds in the world are bred and race in the state. The horse farms around central Kentucky are stunning and have been the setting for books, movies and documentaries. But alpacas? In Kentucky?
It turns out there is a small but growing number of alpaca farms in the state. So, when the state alpaca association approached HEAD Corporation with an idea but also with a roadblock it needed to overcome, HEAD was eager to jump in and included a partnership with Kentucky Highlands.
HEAD Corporation was built on the principle of creating and supporting partnerships and our collaboration with the Kentucky Alpaca Association takes us back to our roots. The Kentucky Alpaca Association (KAA), founded in 2002, is a nonprofit member association that promotes the improvement and growth of the alpaca breeding, husbandry, alpaca fiber, and alpaca fiber products industry in Kentucky.
With a $15,000 loan from HEAD and a $7,500 loan from Kentucky Highlands, the KAA established its first fiber pool project. In late summer, the KAA collected Huacaya and Suri Alpaca fiber from member farms. The fiber, approximately 600 pounds, was sorted by the association and graded by a certified sorter. It was then shipped to a commercial washing facility, then to a mill to be made into yarn, then to a sock knitter. Small amounts of wool and nylon were added to the alpaca fiber to add strength and memory, which is necessary for an excellent quality sock that stays up, wears well and is washable.
“This was the largest fiber project in KAA history,” KAA President Nancy Lindemood said. “The project offered our member farms a low-risk option for putting their fiber into production profitably, in a product using their fiber, that would be easy to sell. It demonstrated the value of pooling our fiber to produce a product that one farm could not do alone. The SOAR & HEAD loans provided the critical upfront capital to fund a project of this scale and enabled us to produce high quality socks from our own alpaca fiber, on a fairly short timeline, at an attractive cost and profit margin for our farms.”
Barnett’s Creek Farm in Liberty and Sunset Mountain Farm in Campton were two of the farms in the SOAR service region who participated in the project.
During this first year, about 2,100 pairs of alpaca socks were produced and ready for the holiday season. The association members took all available pairs to sell, and now there are a few warmer feet all over the country.