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Alpaca Farm

Processing sheep and alpaca fiber is process that starts with shearing the animals. From there, the fiber is sorted out by quality, and fiber farmers make the choice to process the fiber themselves or send it to a mill. The fleece must be carefully cleaned of dirt and debris, then carded. The processing may end once the carded fiber is turned into batting or worked into long, narrow ropes called roving, which is used by spinners to create yarn. Sometimes a mill handles that next step, both spinning and dyeing the yarn into a finished product.

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Editor-in-Chief Sandy Selby toured alpaca and sheep farms around Missouri for her story on fiber farms for the January/February 2023 issue. Enjoy these photos of the animals she met during her journey.