Alpacas Visit Fargo’s Red River Market

It was a beautiful Saturday for the Red River Market, with live music, fresh produce and … alpacas.

Along with their mini–horse Fred, a local farm introduced two of their alpacas to Fargo, in honor, of course, of National Alpaca Farm Days. The Alpacas aren’t as common in the Midwest, having only been imported since the 80s. But the Alpaca business is growing and profitable, using the animal’s fiber for products like wool, yarn and apparel.

“Fred is kind of a somewhat celebrity on Facebook. He has a following so people are really excited to come see him. Then, alpacas they’re kind of different not a lot of people get to see them so a lot of people are asking questions like what are these, what do you do with them, do they spit?” says Owner of Ten Seven Acres Farm, Jessie Monson. 

Monson says she usually uses the fiber off her alpaca about once a year, then processes it into different products. The fiber is lighter weight than wool, hypo allergenic and resistant to fire.