FARMER CITY - Steve Stielow helps two alpaca shearers stretch out the animal's front and back legs. Once the alpaca lies on a mat in the barn, its extended legs secured with ropes set up with a pulley system, Alley-Pac shearer Brent Winslow of Minnesota expertly shears down the side of the body. | Video | Photo gallery

While another Alley-Pac shearer, Rob Bateman of Iowa, holds the alpaca's head, Winslow takes off some more of the creature's fleece around the neck, ears and the top of its face. Meanwhile, Stielow's wife, Dee, gathers the material that falls off of one of her dozen alpacas at Salt Creek Alpacas in Farmer City.

Alpacas at farms across Central Illinois are sheared in the spring to get rid of a heavy coat of fleece, or fiber. They're sheared out of necessity: If male alpacas get overheated, they could become infertile, and female alpacas, especially the pregnant ones, can suffer from dehydration and heat stress and could die, Dee Stielow said.

But the five to 10 pounds that comes off each animal doesn't go to waste either. The soft material is turned into clothing, accessories and jewelry that can be a source of income for alpaca farmers who also might earn money from breeding and selling their animals.

"The product itself is equated to cashmere," Dee Stielow said. "But it's so durable that you really can use it every day."

Outside of Farmer City, other area alpaca farms are located in Heyworth, Ellsworth, El Paso and Bloomington. The newest farmers on the block are Aurora Garcia and Sandy Lehmann of Prairie View Alpacas of Mansfield, who have just started their farm.

Made by alpacas

Stielow, who used to raise horses, began to research alpacas because she wanted a better return on her investment. She learned of tax incentives for alpaca owners - since the United States wants to boost the fiber industry - and started their alpaca farm in 2005.

Unless the alpaca industry becomes more popular in the United States, the domestic market for the fleece will die, said Deborah Barone, who started Kickapoo Creek Alpacas of Heyworth in 1999. Some retailers sell products made from imported alpaca fleece but say there's not enough of a supply to carry U.S.-manufactured products, she said.

That's really why she breeds but doesn't show her animals. Barone wants to grow her herd, make money from selling the animals and promote U.S. alpaca fleece.

Stielow sends her alpaca fiber to a cooperative in Tennessee, where it's made into yarn and other products that Stielow sells at shows and to co-workers at State Farm Bank in Bloomington.

Socks are the biggest seller, Stielow said. Other products include shirts, scarves and purses. Rougher pieces of fleece - often from an animal's legs and neck - can be made into placemats or rugs. Christmas ornaments and decorations that can be attached to greeting cards, pillows or sweaters also can be made with alpaca fiber.

That artsy side of the industry caught the eye of Janetta Bauer of Ellsworth.

Der Bauernhof Farms began because Bauer was interested in spinning, said husband Stanley Bauer. His interest first was in breeding and showing the animals, and he's proud that the first animal born on their farm won first place in a national show in Kentucky.

"You're developing animals that are producing the best fleece," Stanley Bauer said.

With that fleece, Janetta Bauer spins yarn and knits items such as shawls and sweaters. Along the way, Stanley Bauer developed an interest in weaving and felting with the alpaca fleece. For example, he makes round beads out of the felt and strings them with art glass or pottery beads to make necklaces and bracelets.

"It keeps us out of trouble. We always have something to do," Stanley Bauer said. "We just really enjoy doing those things. … It's a relaxing hobby."

A knitter since she was a child, Barone didn't realize people still did hand spinning. A couple of months after she started her alpaca farm, she bought a wheel and began to spin, which she says rivals yoga for its meditative, relaxing qualities.

The Bauers sell their products at alpaca shows, a fall trunk show at their home and through word-of-mouth. Bloomington's Garden of Beadin stocked some of their alpaca hats this winter, Stanley Bauer said.

Barone sells fleece, yarn and some finished products at the Bloomington farmers market.

Expensive animals

Alpaca products are on the expensive side because supply doesn't match demand yet, Stielow said.

Socks sell for $18 to $25 a pair, scarves and hats cost about $25, a camisole costs about $15 and a sweater is priced at about $60, Stielow said.

The animals also cost a pretty penny.

A good quality female starts at about $15,000 while a stud will cost at least $25,000, Stielow said. The highest price tag for a male alpaca so far has been about $600,000.

A gelding that won't be bred runs a lot cheaper at about $1,500, but even they're still good money-making animals to have on the farm.

For example, Stielow has an alpaca she doesn't breed because she doesn't want to pass along his genetic flaw of a crooked leg.

"But he's got some dynamite fiber. … You can always turn his fiber into cash," she said.

Meanwhile, having an alpaca farm is definitely a job and a business, not a hobby, for Charles Ortman.

Ortman's friend, Kathie Thoennes, had always wanted to raise alpacas, so he agreed to start LaPhoenix Alpacas of Illinois with her about four years ago on the country land he had bought land in El Paso after he retired.

A processor turns their fiber into yard, and Thoennes likes to crochet scarves as gifts right now, Ortman said. The goal is to sell more products, and the animals always are for sale, he said.

Other than their financial benefits, the animals also bring Stielow joy as she watches them race and jump in the pasture.

"It's the neatest little thing," Stielow said. "They just look so happy. … It's peaceful."

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Fiber of gods

Alpacas are members of the camelid family and are native to the Andean Mountain range of South America, primarily found in Peru, Bolivia and Chile. They provided clothing and transportation to the Incas and were first commercially imported into the United States in 1984. The following are some more facts about the alpaca's fleece, or fiber, which can be made into a variety of products, including clothing and accessories.

- Was known as the "fiber of gods" in ancient times

- Soft as cashmere

- Stronger and lighter, yet warmer, than wool

- Hypo-allergenic and contains no lanolin

- Naturally fire-retardant

- Comes in 22 natural colors

Source: Salt Creek Alpacas, Farmer City; Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association