Suri Futures alpaca farm welcomes wooly Huacaya neighbors
From our weekly issue dated September 09, 2009
Just four days old, this silky white cria is at home among the expanding herd. (Photo by Michelle Binker, IVN)
During the past seven years, Jeff Merrifield has been raising elite white huacaya alpacas, along with his wife, Rita.
But now, the couple is moving from Gresham to Cave Junction and working with Suri Futures co-owners John & Christine Gardiner.
The couples have known each other for quite some time, as the Gardiners once had a farm in Gresham 12 miles from the Merrifields.
“In small livestock agriculture, that’s neighbors,” Christine Gardiner said.
Jeff Merrifield attended college in Ashland in the 1970s, and remembers the region rather fondly. He said that he would have stayed in the area, but that a lack of quality employment forced him north to Portland.
“I always wanted to come back here,” he said.
Once the Merrifields’ children grew up, the couple had nothing keeping them in Gresham, so they decided to head south and combine forces with the Gardiners.
“We definitely have some big plans to team up and do some big things here in Southern Oregon,” Merrifield said.
The Merrifields’ operation, Camp Feliz Alpacas, has specialized in breeding the animals. Many of its females have won regional show awards, and Jeff serves on the national and regional alpaca organization committees and works closely with the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association.
Looking forward, the Merrifields hope to open and operate an alpaca fiber processing mill in Illinois Valley. That enterprise could eventually employ up to 12 people full time.
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Merrifield said that he would like to emphasize exclusive, high-end yarn made from alpaca fibers. Suri Futures already sells socks made from such material, which Merrifield said is a well-accepted and popular product around the world.
“It’s a no-brainer that we wanted to be part of that in some way,” Merrifield said.
Although there are around 4,000 alpaca farms in the United States, Merrifield said that most alpaca garments are made in Peru.
The Merrifields have 30 alpacas, which they plan to move down in groups of 10. The first of the animals, a male, already has arrived, and Merrifield said that most of the rest should arrive by mid-winter.
A group of seven or eight alpacas likely will be relocated during the next few weeks, he said.
On Sunday, Oct. 4, Suri Futures plans to hold a “Welcome Huacaya Day.”
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