Our personal journey into the fleecy world of alpacas began when we started looking for alternative investments due to the economic climate.  We also had a nice piece of rural property we were not utilizing and desired a profitable avenue for improving it.  Our search for both financial investment and improvement of our land took us to a local alpaca farm where we were formally introduced to these beautiful animals.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that the owner of this farm was a business associate of ours in the insurance industry.  For months we had been driving by their home (unbeknownst of whose home) trying to assess what the strange creatures were in his “yard”.  When National Farm Day arrived, curiosity captured my husband, and he stopped to get the “scoop”. A quick phone call summoned me to the event and the rest, as they say, is history!

Our interest prompted some intense research of the industry and many questions we needed answered before purchasing our first animals:

• Would our small farm provide enough acreage?
• Was this some get-rich-quick scheme?
• Would we and could we do this on into retirement?
• What is the future of alpaca breeding and prices?
• What is the outlook for the alpaca fiber industry in the United States?
• What was involved in their care and upkeep?
• Would the animals like us as much as we liked them!?

The resources were endless and the personal support and encouragement of alpaca breeders from every corner of the U.S. made our decision very easy.  We purchased our first animals, 3 females and a male cria in late 2008.  We can attest, that besides becoming “expert” fencers we are loving every minute of our new endeavor.  As icing on the cake, Uncle Sam “rewarded” our investment and improvements with a nice tax refund!

Being a shepherd suits us and every time we enter the barn we are greeted by our fleecy friends!  Entering their world allows us to exhale deeply from the rat race and slow our pace to walk theirs.  What began as an investment opportunity has become a source of daily fulfillment! We look forward to forging more friendships in the alpaca breeding industry and welcome anyone to come visit our farm to see the amazing alpaca!  We are extending our services to include agisting (boarding) of alpacas for those who want the benefits of alpaca ownership without land and for those needing the time to ready their property.  Call and come see us!  We’ll leave the barn light on for ya!