A FIRST FOR T&E

If there is one thing for certain about working in a meat plant, you are never bored! Animal agriculture brings new things every day. In mid-June, it was our first Alpaca, seen here in the barn. While alpacas and llamas are a part of what’s for dinner in South America and a few other places in the world, they are not recognized by the meat regulations in America—not even under voluntary exotic inspection—like water buffalo. They are sort of in limbo: no one says you can’t sell the meat, but no one says you can, either. But some alpaca ranchers would like to figure it out. Here is the first one we have ever seen. We will cut and pack it like a large lamb, with a very long neck, as befits the ‘New World Camel.”