While the demand and price has dropped, alpacas continue to be an excellent source of fiber if you interested in that. Many farms haven't had sales, but fiber is a constant, although I know there are a lot of alpaca people sitting on fiber they have never had processed.
I believe the concentration in the past was buy, breed and sell high. Animals were much more expensive, and sadly, many people were taking the equity from their homes and buy expensive alpacas with the plan to make huge profits. MANY people did, then the housing market plummeted and so did almost everything else, so mortagage balances were/are high and appraised values are lower than loan balances.
Prices are lower and probably won't appreciate very quickly, so buying to make a turnover profit is not prudent, imo, BUT, if you are interested in a small business, with the business write offs and you are interested in fiber, I believe investing in alpacas is very doable.
We have made it a point to do something with our fiber every year. One year, it all went to a mini mill. One year, all to New England Alpaca Fiber Pool. One year, half to the NEAFP and half to Ingrid's Hand Woven Rugs. I keep a small amount of roving for my personal use and sell some roving, some raw fiber, some yarn and some finished products.
If I had it to do over, I would have fewer animals and concentrate on their fiber quality. I am not an expert, but I can knit a little, crochet a little, wet felt and needle felt. I have sold products I made, as well as products made through the NEAFP. We are working on downsizing our alpaca herd and we have diversified and added mini dairy goats to our business. Feel free to contact me privately if you like.
For those that have done nothing with their fiber, I encourage you to send it to NEAFP for products to be made from it. You are credited for the amount you send in and then you can buy products for your personal use or gifts. They pool the fiber, so it may or may not be YOUR fiber, but the products are made in USA and that is a marketing plus.
A small herd would be manageable and not very expensive and probably give you quite a bit of enjoyment!
Laura
R Half Pint Farm
Spotsylvania, VA
On Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 8:24 PM, cateyes221981
<steven0095@hotmail.com> wrote:
I keep researching but people keep telling me things like "i would stay away from alpacas I got 3 for 500. Very sad i love these animals so beautiful and cute. But it seems to be the truth.
THings like beef cattle or diary are things that just never go out. I wish i could have some alpaca herd but it just does not seem realistic. WHat a dream though wow. Maybe just a small herd? I still will continue to research the ontario area to see the demand but even in my area it looks like no demand anymore.
JJ
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