Buy the best Alpaca″s in Europe from Roland Gerritsen and James Graham

Alpacas are charming creatures ideal for those‚ with an acre or two of land spare‚ looking for their slice of the good life. Alpaca management is not complicated or difficult. The major husbandry involves the occasional grooming and trimming of toenails and teeth‚ and the annual (or bi-annual) shearing. As the alpaca prefers grazing in an open pasture‚ as oppose to the confinements of a barn or store‚ it is essential you have a small plot of land or even a paddock.

Roland Gerritsen en James Graham are the largest and most experienced European importer of Alpacas from North and South America and they currently have a small selection of alpacas for sale available from all ages.

Owner James Graham told Aspire how his family got into alpaca farming: “I′ve been a sheep farmer all my life‚ I still keep sheep now, but just for meat production. I was sending 1200 lambs to the slaughter each year and the fibre just seemed to be a by-product. The focus was always on the meat‚ so the idea of farming an animal for its fibre‚ without killing it‚ appealed greatly to me. We tried to source a herd of 300 alpacas here in the UK‚ in 1998‚ but we just couldn′t find that many animals‚ so we imported 320 alpacas from Chile and Peru.″

Although James is based on the Isle of Man‚ his herd of 150 alpacas are based at Low Crompton Farm in central Lancashire. He even has a herd of over 70 alpacas in Dalen‚ Holland.

James added: “The alpaca business just seems to go from strength to strength. I get new people calling me everyday to enquire about alpaca breeding. There are now around 1,000 breeders in the UK alone. We expanded into mainland Europe not only to keep costs down‚ but also to provide our European customers with a shop window. It also causes the animals a lot of stress to keep transporting them across Europe.”

Every alpaca has undergone the most rigorous of tests and vaccination programmes to fulfil all the importation regulations

James added: “We have a diverse line of alpacas and have previously exported them all over Europe including Spain‚ Holland‚ Belgium‚ Germany‚ France‚ Portugal and Switzerland. We′re born and bred livestock farmers and fully believe alpacas should be kept for that very reason and not as high quality pets. We sell our fibre on‚ so we can stick to what we know and what we do best.”

James has imported circa 1000 alpacas to the UK and Europe in recent years - more than any other individual. His experience‚ and that of his very good friends in North and South America‚ is second to none. His counterpart in Chile is Carlos Morales. Based in Arica, Northern Chile on the borders of Peru‚ he is ideally placed‚ and his company‚ ALPAC CHILE‚ is one of the oldest and most respected exporters.Roland Gerritsen s the sales manager for Europe‚based in Holland

The advantages of buying from Roland Gerritsen en James Graham include:

Sourced from the best in North and South America
Huacayas from Chile‚ Peruvians Bolivia ensuring diverse genetics
Fibre testing certificate
Ear-tagged

Finally James added: “We have the best reputation for breeding alpacas. We′ve been doing it a long time and we know our animals inside out. We welcome visitors anytime because ′looking is learning′ and, more often than not‚ we don′t even need to sell our alpacas; they sell themselves.”