The idea was born from a late-night infomercial.
Terry Moore was watching television at his home outside Mooresville in 2008. He and his wife, Terri, had raised cattle and pigs for nearly 30 years, but were looking for something new to rear on their acreage.
When a commercial for alpaca farms captured his attention, he brought the idea to his wife.
“The commercial, and all of the great uses for alpaca, really captured my husband’s attention,” Terri Moore said.
Eight years later, Moore Alpaca has grown to include 25 animals, unprocessed wool and products made with the fluffy-soft fiber, such as socks, gloves, hats, blankets and stuffed animals.
The farm has been a regular feature of Franklin’s winter market for several years, Terri Moore said.
“Alpaca is known for its warmth, kind of like sheep’s wool. Their fibers are hollow, which allows your skin to breath,” she said.
Alpacas are a domesticated animal similar to a camel or a llama. The animals hum when they’re happy, only have bottom teeth and are guarded by a Great Pyrenees dog and two miniature donkeys.
Part of their appeal is their versatility. People can sheer and process the animals’ wool into clothing and other items.
The Moores’ alpacas get sheered once each year, in late April. The Moores work with a professional trained in New Zealand, while their family members all gather to help collect the material and store it.
Some of the fiber is processed and sold directly to local spinners to make hats, socks and other clothing. A portion of the fiber is sent to a mill in Massachusetts, where the Moores have a “fiber bank,” storing the material until it is needed to make new products.
In addition to its fiber, alpaca droppings are high in nitrogen and are ideal fertilizers. The Moores use it in their own flowers, to enrich their hay fields and sell it by the bucket to other gardeners.
“Our main goal is to get the idea of alpaca out there, so we can help the whole industry,” Terri Moore said.
