[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.56]this is the Agriculture Report. [00:05.67]Alpacas are large animals with long, thick hair. [00:11.52]They are related to camels and lamas. [00:15.74]Most of them live in the Andean area of South America. [00:20.90]But a growing number of them [00:23.04]are being raised in the United States. [00:26.41]VOA recently visited an Alpaca Farm [00:30.16]near Washington to find out why. [00:33.67]Alpacas are being sheared at an Alpaca Farm in Maryland, [00:41.93]less than an hour away from the nation's capital. [00:45.28]Shearing is the process of removing that thick, [00:49.53]heavy covering of fleece from the animal. [00:53.24]Some of the alpacas quietly let the owners shear them, [00:58.48]but some of them do not like it at all. [01:06.84]The alpacas on Sugarloaf Farm are sheared [01:24.90]to keep them cool during the hot summer months. [01:28.46]The shearing is also profitable for farm owner Kevin Brandt. [01:34.33]He says there is a growing demand for alpaca wool. [01:39.18]"We're finding that there are more people [01:41.40]in the marketplace looking for alpaca yarns [01:43.56]because it's considered to be hypoallergenic, [01:46.51]and it's really as soft as cashmere," Brandt said. [01:49.81]Mr Brandt and his workers turn the fleece [01:54.37]from the animals into yarn, using an equipment at the farm. [01:59.72]Mr Brandt sales natural and colored yarn, [02:04.18]and other alpaca products in his store at the farm. [02:08.39]But that is not the only way he makes money from his animals. [02:14.19]"We raise and sell alpacas as bred females. [02:18.14]We also sell pet males and fiber males to others. [02:24.01]We also have a stud service [02:25.77]where we'll take our stud males around for hire," Brandt said. [02:28.77]Mr Brandt says he entered the Alpaca of farming business, [02:34.25]because he and his family love the animals. [02:38.75]"My wife Nancy and oldest daughter and I were at the local country fair [02:42.28]and we decided to stop into one more barn before we went home [02:46.32]and it happened to be the alpaca barn [02:48.23]and almost instantly we fell in love with the alpacas," Brandt said. [02:51.23]Experts estimate there are about 300,000 alpacas in the United States. [02:59.58]Mr Brandt says fewer alpacas live in places other than South America. [03:05.69]The Farm's website says 99 percent of the 3 million alpacas [03:11.44]in the world live in Peru, Bolivia and Chile. [03:16.25]"Alpaca are just a wonderful livestock. They're gentle. [03:19.69]We've raised our three kids here [03:22.10]and it's a wonderful lifestyle to have," said Brandt. [03:25.38]And as more and more people learn about the joy [03:30.09]and money alpacas can bring, [03:33.50]he believes there will be even more farms like his. [03:38.04]And that's the VOA Learning English Agriculture Report. [03:43.19]For more agriculture stories, [03:45.80]go to our website chinavoa.com. [03:52.50]I'm Caty Weaver.

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