While working as an accountant, Sherri Noble, CPA began to look for a way to turn the farm she owns with her husband Edward into a profit-producing property. She read some articles that touted the investment potential in alpacas and, although she had never seen an alpaca or even knew what one was, she visited an alpaca farm to find out more about these intriguing animals. To make a long story short, she immediately fell in love with these cute, adorable creatures and she and Edward began to raise alpacas. They purchased their first animals in early 1994 and today have over ten years experience in alpaca husbandry. We visited Noble Farms recently and listened as Sherri gave us an inside look at the income potential of raising alpacas;
Noble Farms boards, breeds, sells, and offers stud service for Huacaya alpacas. The fleece produced by Huacayas is a very fine wool-type fleece with a feel that's similar to cashmere. It's the finest naturally produced fiber in the world and is known for it very high thermal properties. We currently own about twenty alpacas and, including our boarders, usually have around thirty alpacas here at a time.
Raising alpacas is a cottage industry well suited to small farms of five to ten acres. As you can raise anywhere from five to six alpacas per acre of land, even a small farm can still produce a nice additional income and operate very economically. Breeding stock is priced from $5,000.00 on up to over $100,000.00 per head although the majority of alpacas will be in the $5-20,000.00 range. It's a very good business for people wanting to become involved in raising livestock while making a bit of extra money at the same time.
Noble Farms also provides temporary boarding services for people who are in the process of getting their farm ready for raising alpacas. We also board for those who don't have a farm and never intend to have a farm. They run their own alpaca business showing and selling the animals but simply don't house them on their own property.
The number of alpacas in North America is very small compared to the demand. The United States no longer imports alpacas from other countries so our entire stock depends on our own breeding programs. By eliminating importation of alpacas, we've isolated our herds which enables us to focus on continually improving herd genetics. Over the past ten years, we've made incredible strides in improving the quality of our herds and are now producing animals that are far superior to those originally imported. The overall effect has been a very strong demand which has increased the value of our animals on the world-wide market. The alpacas we raise at Noble Farms are really good quality animals and by striving to keep our prices reasonable, we sell everything we produce each year.
Alpacas are not very large animals with females ranging from 120 to 160 pounds and males weighing in at up to 200 pounds. They're very friendly, gentle animals and completely safe around children. Their normal gestation period is from 11 to 11½ months so they only ever have one baby a year. They're re-bred anywhere from 10 to 30 days after they deliver so they're literally pregnant all the time. This long gestation period means that alpaca population growth is really slow. Since it's impossible to mass produce these animals, the small farm is on the same footing as a large farm. Whether your farm is large or small doesn't affect your ability to succeed in this business.
The ample farmland in Medina County is perfect for running a small alpaca farm. For excellent breeding stock or more information about the income opportunities available through alpaca farming, call or stop by Noble Farms today and don't forget to tell them that The Advocate sent you!
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