2025 Fiber Collection/Sort

Dates: July 31- August 2
Fairfield Inn & Suites Harrisburg West/Mechanicsburg
503 Winding Creek Boulevard, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 17050, United States

Volunteers Needed! Please contact Sheri Hunt-Smith at 717-495-8979 or [email protected] or Pam Ellenberger at 484-797-2263 or [email protected]

Drop Off Dates: July 31 - August 2 or drop fleeces off to Sheri or Pam prior.

REMINDER: NEAFP will have their trailer at the fiber sort hotel parking lot from mid-morning Friday, Aug 1 through mid-day Saturday for drop offs.

WHY CONTRIBUTE ?
  • If you have a limited number of animals on your farm or don't want to have to work with a mill to get your fiber into yarn, you can expand your PA Preferred offerings to your customers by participating in this member benefit.
  • The volunteers on the Fiber Committee track your sorted fiber:
          o You receive a spreadsheet of the fiber submitted by grade and weight.
          o You will know which batch numbers your fiber is in, so you can buy those yarns for your store.
          o You can receive payment (see below).
  • The Fiber Committee chairs and volunteers get the sorted fiber to the mills for yarn production with no work from you.
  • You get to choose the yarns that you and your customers, family & and friends will like.
  • A great way to move the fleece from your barn into production with minimal effort from you.
  • You receive an additional 10% off the wholesale cost of the yarn. All PAOBA members can buy the yarn at wholesale.
  • You help PAOBA be the affiliate that gives back to its members while promoting alpaca fiber!


WHAT WE NEED 
  • Grade 1-4 fiber (roughly 19-30 microns)
  • Fiber needs to be at least 3 inches long and with MINIMAL vegetative matter. Fleece with a lot of VM, moths, or mold will be put in the trash.
                              White, light fawn and light grey give the committee the most options. We can use brown, but to have your contribution count,
                              we need a USABLE white, light fawn, grey, or black fleece from your farm also.
  • If your fleece is grade 5 or higher, or very hairy, or shorter than 3 inches long, it will be sent to NEAFP for PAOBA to
          buy insoles to sell at the Farm Show in January. You will NOT receive any payment for this fiber. You may request it
          be returned to you, but you would need to pick it up; it CANNOT be shipped back.



WHAT YOU GET
PAOBA will pay according to the following schedule:
  • Grades 1 & 2 $7.00 per pound
  • Grade 3 $5.50 per pound
  • Grade 4 $4.50 per pound
If you have contributed fiber and would like to purchase yarn at the contributor price, yarn is available at the sort, the PAOBA halter show or at the Farm Show. Please note, that at Farm Show, many yarns are available to members during the show, but the Fiber Committee's hand-dyed yarns will only be available to members at the END of Farm Show. 
Members may also contact Sheri Hunt-Smith at 717-495-8979 or [email protected] to buy yarn at other times of the year.

If you have any questions, please contact:
Sheri Hunt-Smith at 717-495-8979 or [email protected]
OR
Pam Ellenberger at 484-797-2263 or [email protected]

PAOBA