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Fiber Fields Alpaca Farm by Dawn Brooker John and I had been looking to become business owners but for one reason or another none of the businesses we investigated seemed to be quite right. Then one day in Dec 1995 I saw a short segment about raising alpacas on PBS. I immediately thought, "This could be it"! Within two weeks of seeing and touching our first alpacas we decided to start an alpaca farm. Unfortunately, this did not mean going down the road and purchasing some animals. This meant preparing our wooded property in Union for alpacas while we were each maintaining 45-50hr/wk careers. Needless to say the farm’s first purchases consisted of a chainsaw, tractor, chipper, rake and bush hog. Well, a year had passed and so far we had made five purchases, and not one of them had a heartbeat! My day finally arrived in February 1997 ….we purchased three maiden females and boarded them until spring while we continued preparing for their arrival. Life was merry in Union on our little farm for quite some time. That was until it became apparent the newly seeded grass was not growing fast enough thanks to 2 years of drought! We were outgrowing our pasture space. After 18+ months of searching we found a new location that met our primary prerequisites of 20 acres of established fields with no power lines or roads running through them, a house appropriately situated on the land and a location within 60 minutes of our vet. On May 2001 we signed papers on our present farm in Palermo. John and I packed everything we owned—literally, because the decision had been made to live in a 24' 5th wheel camper while the house was undergoing major structural repairs. Yes, all of us were going to live in the camper: 2 humans, 2 Rottweilers, & 2 cats. What an adventure! 
Moving day lasted an eternity--26 hours to be exact. The final trip was a site to behold…..John
and I sandwiched in the front seat with two cats each in their own crate; two Rotties in the back
seat; two chickens in a large dog crate along with various boxes and hay feeders in the bed of the
truck; a trailer loaded with camelids in tow and the sun rising in the rear view mirror at
5:30am! Since moving to Palermo "the old farm" has been reborn through structural repairs, exterior facelift, grounds tending and of course the addition of livestock. One of the most significant changes was the addition of the 40x60’ steel barn—we waited a LONG time to build a barn and knew exactly what we wanted and it is working like a charm. We moved to Palermo with 16 alpacas and have grown to 45+. Dawn left her long time career as a dental hygienist to manage the farm full time in 2003. John works as a self employed master electrician…/ranch hand/farm maintenance/farm sitter/shearer—you get the idea. Once again life was merry—this time in Palermo when a new frontier appeared—alpaca judging. I have always had an obsession for critiquing alpacas/fleece but didn't think much of it until an accomplished breeder friend said "You should consider becoming a judge". After investing a great deal of time contemplating the idea I decided to give it a whorl! In December 2005 I gained certification as an AOBA Huacaya and Suri Halter, Fleece and Performance Judge and entered a new arena in the alpaca industry. It was one of the best decisions I ever made—I thoroughly enjoy judging! You never know what opportunities may come your way when your receptors are open to new ideas—for us it all started with a brief story about alpacas on PBS in 1995! For a more detailed history of our alpaca adventure please visit www.FiberFields.com |
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