Culled Alpaca Sold For Meat

Culled Alpaca Sold For Meat LIVESTOCK Exotic Animals Catherine Simpson has built demand for alpaca meat produced from animals she culls out of her herd The high-demand animals usually sell at a premium for breeding stock or fleece production Simpson likes having an outlet for lower quality fleece-producing animals “I tasted alpaca meat in Peru and loved it ” says Simpson     In Peru she was told that alpacas with lower quality fleece were harvested for meat At the time Simpson was the president of the Canadian Llama and Alpaca Association She recognized a need for a meat outlet in Canada     “Too often animals are sold to new entrants to the industry as ‘good’ animals when they are not ” she says “That is bad for the industry and the buyers ”     When Simpson first argued for using culls as meat animals she got nasty emails “People who think of them as pets can’t wrap their heads around the idea of eating them ” she says     Simpson could and did after taking in a group of rescue alpacas The underfed and neglected animals regained their health but were never going to produce quality fleece     After having the animals butchered the first cuts were not great “Prime cuts and the ground alpaca were fine but everything else was so tough ” says Simpson     Her butcher noted the similarity between extremely lean alpaca and venison He advised taking prime cuts and grinding the rest     “We add grated potato to the ground for moisture when we make patties then grill them ” says Simpson “I think they taste better than beef hamburgers ”     Simpson also makes 11 different kinds of sausages from the ground meat from breakfast sausage to blueberry spicy and beer sausage She also makes alpaca jerky     “I used to make dog food but the meat is too valuable ” says Simpson “We sell tenderloins for $30 per lb and rib eye for $22 per lb ”     The lightweight animals yield approximately 80 lbs of carcass or 55 lbs of boned-out meat One challenge for Simpson was to find a slaughterhouse willing to do the extra work with alpaca Unlike cattle the hide has to be cut off not pulled Saving the hide is important     “I send the hides to a tannery and have them made into rugs ” she explains “They make fabulous fireplace rugs and people with arthritis report they are great body temperature regulators as lap robes ”     Simpson notes that the hides don’t simply add value They are essential to profits “We couldn’t do it solely on meat ” she says “At first we couldn’t make any money It was a slow learning curve You have to take out all your costs and still have enough left over to cover the base value of the animal ”     While Simpson has developed a local market for alpaca she admits creating a broader market is not likely to happen She notes that there are only about 35 000 registered alpaca in Canada and 100 000 in the U S It also requires that breeders pass up the premium that can be had selling cull animals as quality breeding stock or fleece producing animals to unsuspecting buyers     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup KPFarm 1736 248 St Langley B C Canada V4W 2C3 ph 604 625-4395; info@kpfarm com; www kpfarm com

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