By Katy Savage, Standard Staff
WEATHERSFIELD — Jennifer Lutz towed a computer monitor on a red wagon behind her. She walked into an alpaca pen, one of 10 in the barn at the top of the Mount Ascutney slope.
She captured Legend’s Lace, stuck a tube in her and looked at the monitor.
“See the flicking?” said Lutz, last Thursday, pointing to the black circular object on the screen. “That’s the heartbeat.”
Legend’s Lace was bred 31 days prior and her baby looked healthy. One pregnant alpaca down, Lutz had 40 or so more ultrasounds to do that day.
This time next year there will be more than 70 alpaca babies, called cria, at Cas-Cad-Nac Farm in Weathersfield.
The best of the alpaca babies, the ones with the finest fleece, the straightest legs and best conformation, will be sold across the country and around the world. The other half, with less show-winning and breeding potential, will be slaughtered in Troy. The meat will appear on local dinner plates. Alpaca meat is considered a delicacy in Australia, Peru, New Zealand and Europe — “the natural byproduct of any livestock operation,” said Cas-Cad-Nac Farm co-owner Ian Lutz. It’s on the weekly dinner menu at the Lutz household. They make burgers and steaks with it and eat it like they’d eat beef.
“It’s essentially replaced anything we would do with beef,” Ian said.
Alpaca meat is new to North America, but the Lutzes are trying to make it popular with some local help. It’s on the dinner menu at the Inn at Weathersfield, a short drive from the Lutzes’ house.
Alpaca meat is red and mild — not strong or gamey like lamb or venison. It’s leaner than chicken and turkey and higher in protein. It’s healthier than beef.
“It’s pretty popular,” said Inn at Weathersfield Chef Michael Ehlenfeldt. He orders 20-30 pounds of frozen alpaca meat at a time.
The chef serves it by braising the shoulders, chunking it in big pieces and delivering it with a sauce and seasonal vegetables. He’s serves it with polenta and homemade fettuccini. Fettuccini alpaca Bolognese was on the inn’s fall menu.
Ehlenfeldt has been at the Inn at Weathersfield for three months. Alpaca meat was on the menu when he arrived. He’d never worked with it before that.
“It’s certainly sustainable. It doesn’t get any more local,” he said.
The farm’s alpaca meat is prepared at local restaurants, including the Inn at Weathersfield.
(Katy Savage Photo)
The Lutzes didn’t eat alpaca meat until it became part of their business in 2011. They needed extra money because the economic crisis thwarted their livestock sales. Nobody was interested in spending $8-$25,000 on one of their alpaca, even if they were of the highest quality.
It was a way of generating revenue and profit at a time when the farm couldn’t support itself.
“It’s one of the realities of sustainable agriculture in the livestock business. The alpaca industry for decades survived with a model that didn’t involve (slaughter) but that’s just simply not the case. The North American breeders have been “dragged kicking and screaming” toward that model, also, Ian said.
The hard part is convincing others that alpaca meat is tasty and healthy. The concept hasn’t exactly latched on yet. But Lutz doesn’t view his operation as any different from other farms.
“Basically if you’re eating cheese you’re going to support that,” he said. “A lot of folks don’t get that.”
Chef Jean-Luc Matecat, formerly at the Inn at Weathersfield, put together a cookbook specifically for alpaca meat. The book of 18 recipes called “Cas-Cad-Nac Farm Cookbook” includes alpaca bean and chili, alpaca Bolognese, alpaca schnitzel, alpaca stew, stir-fry, ribs and tacos.
The meat sales make up the smallest part of the Lutzes’ business. They co-own the Vermont Fiber Mill & Studio in Brandon, which makes up another small part.
The majority of their business is sales to breeders. Most are sold at 1-2 years of age — the same age they go to the slaughterhouse.
The Lutzes started Cas-Cad-Nac Farm in 1997, when they were in their mid-20s. They bought 10 alpaca.
“At that time we were looking for any animals we could afford,” Ian said.
“Cuteness” was the most important factor when they saw an alpaca they wanted to buy.
They taught themselves what they needed to do to make Cas-Cad-Nac farm a profitable business, one with 250 animals, an award-wining breeding program and famous sires known around the country, Ian said.
Hundreds of blue ribbons hang along their office wall — the culmination of 18 years worth of showing.
Cas-Cad-Nac Farm won the Large Breeder of the Year award in 2012 and the Reserve Large Breeder of the Year awards in both 2013 and 2014 from The Futurity show in Kansas City, Missouri, considered the industry’s leading show.
The Lutzes show 4-5 times a year, traveling the country from Massachusetts to Missouri to New Jersey. They take two trailers and shove 40 animals in to take with them.
Cas-Cad-Nac Farm is the largest alpaca farm in the state.
The Lutzes know their alpacas ages and their health conditions. They name all the new alpaca born at the farm.
“When you have to come up with 70-80 of these things every year, the Internet is a great thing,” Ian said.
All have unique names that will be memorable to buyers. There’s Infinity and her daughters, Infinite Grace and Infinite Patience. There’s Majesty and her offspring, Magistrate.
“Nobody’s interested in buying or breeding to (an alpaca named) Fluffy. You need something a little catchy at least,” Ian said.
They wake up at 6 a.m. to check the baby animals. Barn chores begin at 7 a.m. and last until 5 p.m. There’s a nighttime check on the new moms at 9 or 10 p.m.
“The great thing about a livestock family is that it’s a microcosm of the world at large, it’s birth, it’s death and everything in between,” Ian said. “Our most boring day is right up there with a lot of people’s most interesting day.”
This article first appeared in the November 5, 2015 edition of the Vermont Standard.