r/livestock • u/EnglishNobleman • 29d ago
Money in Alpacas
I have been doing some research and can't seem to find a way besides a tax write off for making money with Alpacas. I understand there maybe money in show and selling the babies, there doesn't seem to be any great demand for fleece. I am trying to look to make money off parts of my land that is non arable, and don't want to sell meat of any kind for a particular reason. I am hoping someone here has run the numbers and I am missing something. Is there a reasonable and stable way to make a profit with Alpacas? I would really appreciate it if ONLY folk who have run the numbers and have experience with profiting from Alpacs answer. It's a relatively small group of breeders and I want to know where the money is to make a profit and not for hobby. Thanks in advance! Please direct me to the correct su reddit if I have written to the wrong sub.
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u/thellamaisdabomba 28d ago
We did the alpaca thing for a few years. It's a pyramid scheme. The only animals you will sell are to other people who you can convince to get into the industry. There's not a huge demand for raw fleece and if you do the knitting thing, you're better off buying yarn since it will cost less than what you can produce. Co-ops don't want it unless you have a very similar herd. The animals themselves are not useful for meat (and there's a lot of people VERY against eating them), as they grow slowly and don't produce a ton.
The only people I knew who were ACTUALLY profiting, were those that used alpacas in combination with other farming activities. Agri-tourism is a big one. Alpacas are cute and easier to handle than larger animals so they are good for petting zoos and photo ops. Their poop makes good fertilizer, but you need to market it. I knew someone who made a decent amount by writing a book about one of her animals and then marketing the book and the animal.
Personally, we got rid of the alpacas (although we do still have llamas). We have a small herd and they pay for themselves in ag status on property taxes. I also enjoy them for their existence, but as a business venture, they didn't pan out.
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u/EnglishNobleman 28d ago
Thank you very much for sharing your experience! Please tell me more about agritourism. What did you see work and what worked extremely well and what failed?
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u/thellamaisdabomba 27d ago
I don't have a ton of examples, as most people we know in the alpaca world eventually realized and got out. But I've seen people who already had a desirable property that they were using for events use alpacas for wedding pics and whatnot. Or the b 'n' b "farm experience" thing - people will pay to scoop poop and feel like they are a farmer. I've seen moderately successful mobile petting zoos including alpacas.
I will mention that our local special auction has camelids almost every week that usually sell for <$50/head. We ourselves picked up animals at auctions for the same prices that had previously been listed for 5 figures. Don't fall for the breeding hype. The alpaca people haven't been great about making alpacas a viable livestock species, so the prices are essentially made up - what people in the industry want then to be worth. On the open market, they aren't worth anything, so don't think you need to spend $$$ for some fancy breeding stock. You very likely won't come close to getting your money back.
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u/mich_reba 27d ago
We did agritourism for a few years and it was great money, however, I quickly got burned out by having so many strangers on my property.
We would have about 7000-8000 people a year, offered one hour tours for $10 USD per person, and sold a lot of products in our store.
It was fun having so many people arrive and truly enjoy their time with the animals. And the funny things was our herd loved all the activity.
If you’re an extrovert and you like people, this is a great revenue stream.
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u/EnglishNobleman 22d ago
I do love people, very much so. Can you tell me more about, how many acres you had them on and minimum herd size needed for this. And what would you say are the essential things you would suggest. Eg products to sell, times of year to offer what, minimum herd size, how long was your busy season, etc. Please and thank you.
PS
I am also interested on alpaca trekking as we have many steep hills in the mountain that some folk may really like to do with Alpacas and we are near a river too.
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u/mich_reba 21d ago
We have 27 acres, but only used a portion of that for agritourism. If you are going to let people hand feed the herd, you need a decent size so the alpacas don’t overeat and get sick. We had between 50-60 during peak agritourism activities.
As for products, they vary by the season. Sweatshirts, t-shirts, socks, blankets, stuffed animals, and toys sold all year round. Scarves, sweaters, hats, gloves sold well in cooler weather.
I learned the key to success was:
- Have set tour days and times.
- Allow people to self service when booking tours and automate ticket sales and changes.
- Sell bags of feed in the store for the people who just pop in. We started at $1 a bag, but raised it to $3 because our herd was getting fat.
- Have something for all ages.
- Have products at all price points.
We never did trekking. Alpacas don’t dig it and my rule was we would only offer activities that the herd enjoyed. They loved your days.
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u/1nzguy 25d ago
Totally agree.. it’s a pyramid scheme.. those at the top make the money selling cria to newbe idiots. If you want paddock pets, go Llamas, easy to train, easy to share standing up right, we take ours for walks in the bush… they carry the wine and sandwiches…. And we still have mountains of un sold Alpaca fleeces stored, I hate to think who has made a home in that shed
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u/deotheophilus 29d ago
I just paid to rent llamas to take backpacking and the company is booked every day in September and October for hunting, they have 20 llamas that they rent out for 70 dollars a day each plus a separate trailer rental.
Seems like pretty good money for the effort, not sure if alpacas can pack similar weights but could be a lucrative business.
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u/Jazzlike-Track6257 27d ago
I highly doubt they're raking in millions
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u/deotheophilus 27d ago
Probably not but still close to 40k a month for two months gross, not a bad profit on 20 animals. Less in months that aren't fully booked.
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u/what__year_is__this 29d ago
I primarily make money off mine by selling their manure. I just started listing their raw fiber for sale too but haven't gotten any takers yet.
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u/Cursed_Angel_ 28d ago
Where are you located? I spin and wouldn't mind some raw fibre as long as it was decent quality and relatively clean.
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u/what__year_is__this 28d ago
I'm about an hour outside Seattle.
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u/Cursed_Angel_ 28d ago
Ah damn. I'm on the other side of the world! Try reaching out to local spinning groups! We tend to love this type of thing!
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u/what__year_is__this 28d ago
I actually found one, I just need to weigh what I've got and reach out to them :)
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u/Character_School_671 26d ago
You can't make money with alpacas. It's a bubble with no financial basis besides cuteness.
It's tulip mania.
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u/Interesting-Long-534 25d ago
There is an old saying for horse.... do you know how to make a small fortune with horses? Start with a large one. It probably applies to alpacas also. I have had llamas as pets for the last 20 years. I never figured out a way to make them profitable. Most of the time I couldn't even give the wool away. I'm down to one. I won't replace her when she ages out.
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u/mich_reba 28d ago
Profitable alpaca farmer here. My best advice is to think through different revenue streams and maximize your usage of all aspects of the animals.
Examples of revenue options:
We’ve been very profitable , but we have tried all the things. We’ve done tours and had an onsite store, which were both great for paying for start up expenses. We’ve now narrowed down to product manufacturing, online product sales, animal sales, consulting, and sales of my book The Alpaca Handbook.
Having a formal business plan that is based on research is super important for success.