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  • Community Engagement
Long-Acres Farm

On November 30th, the Community Engagement Team visited Long-Acres, an alpaca farm located just 10 minutes from campus, where we met with the owner, Sarah Donahoe. Much like other local farms in the area, Long-Acres is a traditional farm, meaning that its sole purpose is to sell raw products to sellers. Donahoe shared that their business “was supposed to be a hobby” when they originally set up shop in the '90s.

Currently, the Donahoe family is phasing out of the breeding industry, meaning that most of their alpacas are now up for sale. Their alpacas are valued for how desirable their gene/traits are. For example, an alpaca with a white fine fleece can be valued at up to $10,000. Whereas the business previously owned 150 alpacas, they have sold the majority of their farm population and are now down to 50 that live on the 132-acre farm.

Fun Alpaca Facts:

  • Alpacas are clean freaks–they even poop in the same spot.
  • There are no wild alpacas–the alpaca is the domesticated version of the vicuña.
  • Alpacas love to spit for self-defense.
  • 99% of the world's alpacas still live in South America.