LaMalot Farm in Breezewood, PA; they are retiring

One my trips between Maryland and State College, PA I have occasionally stopped at LaMalot Farm. It was a large llama farm in Breezewood, PA. I spoke with the owners, I am afraid I don’t recall their names, to let them know I was driving through town and hoping to stop in to visit the herd. I spoke with them on the mobile phone in Florida. It turns out that she has culled her herd from roughly 40 llamas to just 4 – one sire and 3 females. One of the females has been with her a while – the llama is 22 years old. She indicated that she has reduced the price on the animals, and two of them are pregnant; she will sell mother and cria together.

It was at this farm that I learned about the relaxing effect of llamas. The proprietor told me that she noted that many of her buyers are emergency room nurses; people with high stress jobs. There was an article in the New York Times a while ago how these animals are used in nursing homes and the like to help with patients. Llamas are so good, as they prefer to eliminate in a communal dung pile and are not messy animals.

This is an interesting couple – they told us several years ago that they own much of the land under the interchange between 70 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The man had to leave school after 8th grade when his father passed. They raised cattle, but the wife indicated that she was afraid of the large animals and wanted something more gentle. I hope I am remembering that correctly, as it was many years ago that she told me the story.

The husband indicated that, during the 70’s, he drove a tanker truck to Washington, DC to get a tanker full of gasoline which he drove back to Breezewood to sell locally. This was during the gas shortage of the mid-70’s. Entrepreneurial guy.

They are lovely people and I wish them well in their retirement.