Kansas Farm Bureau Members say "See You Later..."
By Keely Ana Dillon
Louisiana Farm Bureau News
The term “Farm Bureau Family” extends far beyond Louisiana. Members of the Kansas Farm Bureau recently traveled to the Bayou State, where they experienced unique agriculture and warm southern hospitality.
Over the course of a week, they explored several farms across the state, including Vermilion Gator Farm in Abbeville.
Matthew Sagrera is a third-generation alligator farmer and it is all he’s ever known. He grew up handling small tasks around the farm and has since worked his way up to manager of his family’s operation. Although he attended University of Louisiana at Lafayette for a couple of years, Sagrera realized there was nothing he would rather do than farm. One of his favorite aspects about his job is that each day is different from the one before.
“I find that Farm Bureau people from around the country or state seem to get more impressed by my job than regular people,” Sagrera said. “You find people who are farmers themselves, and you know, they have rice or corn or something different, and I tell them I’m an alligator farmer. Then, more times than not, the questions just start coming and they're completely amazed. So, it's always fun for me and it never gets old talking about what I do.”
Sagrera’s alligators were harvested in August, so there were no live ones on the farm.
However, Kansas Farm Bureau members had a behind-the-scenes look into the curing and grading processes. After harvest, the alligators are shipped to another farm approximately an hour and a half away to be skinned. Once they’re skinned, the hides are cured: covered in salt, which acts as a preservative. After a week, the skins are returned to Sagrera, and the first layer of salt is shaken off.
Currently, Sagrera and his team are in the grading phase where they carefully inspect each skin and assign a grade from one to three.
“I'll measure it across the belly, in centimeters to determine the width,” Sagrera said. “Then, I'll assign a grade based on quality. We're trying to harvest as many number ones as possible, because that means they’re perfect or almost perfect, and that's full price. Number two is slightly blemished, so that'll be like a 30% discount. Then, number three is really bad at a 50% discount, but we try not to harvest any of those if we can.”
Once the grading is complete, the skins are packed into wooden crates for final inspection by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). After they have received LDWF’s stamp of approval, the skins are shipped overseas, primarily to Singapore and Italy, with Louis Vuitton being one of his largest customers.
“We try to sell almost everything we can,” Sagrera said. “We do have to release 5% of the alligators that hatch back into the marsh, so what we try to look for are the ones that might have blemishes on their bellies. That wouldn't be good for a leather product, but they're still healthy alligators, so we can release them back into the wild and they'll survive.”
Years ago, when the alligator species neared endangerment, Sagrera was required to release 17% of the alligators back into the marsh. This practice was originally intended to allow the species to recover, but Sagrera noted that it was far more successful than anticipated.
“That's still kind of the remit,” Sagrera said. “Now it's only down to 5%. And really, we could probably do 0% for several years. When the alligator farming industry started, it was done for conservation.”
Sagrera explained that the alligator farming industry began as a conservation effort. For three generations, he and his family have dedicated themselves to the betterment of the farm, working tirelessly to ensure this valuable resource is sustained.