Alpacas: A Sound Investment In A Great Business

I have spent my entire professional career as a commercial lender in the US banking industry. I have been intimately involved in the financial affairs of numerous businesses, reviewed countless business plans and have seen many succeed and some fail. From the outset, I have been trained in the conservative management of assets. I am by nature, and as a product of twenty-five years of training, very conservative when it comes to managing our family’s personal assets. Why would someone with my background farm alpacas rather than concentrate on traditional investments such as real estate, stocks, bonds and mutual funds?
The answer, aside from the sound fundamentals of the alpaca industry, is diversification and superior returns on investment. Based on my experience with numerous businesses in a vast array of industries, I have never found any thing with the potential for gain like the alpaca industry. Of course, I believe that traditional investments are an important part of one's personal portfolio and Anita and I will continue to maintain positions in them. However, none of them offer us the potential to control our destiny by being actively involved in an exciting, growing industry while producing above average returns on a tax deferred basis.
Anita and I fit the alpaca owner/breeder profile to a tee. We love animals, are actively working our plan to build wealth and we pay our fare share of state and federal income taxes. I have to admit, in our lives, Anita and I have been extremely blessed. But, in building wealth, we have been continually frustrated by the impact our investments suffered by market conditions outside of our control. Terrorist attacks, oil prices, accounting irregularities and changes in consumer confidence all impact the value of these assets. In addition, taxes are a continual burden, reducing gains and further impeding growth. As saddened as I was with the events of September 11, 2001, I was extremely encouraged to find that the alpaca industry actually grew when all other financial markets suffered declines.
Anita and I were initially attracted to the alpaca business as we were looking for a way to enjoy our farm, produce superior financial returns, build wealth on a tax deferred basis and reduce taxes on our current income.
Why are alpacas such a superior businessopportunityy?
Based on an alpaca’s quality, returns of 30% to 75% are possible. This is significantly better than the historic 10returnsrs available with traditional investments.
Alpacas can be insured to protect the owner against loss due to death of theft.
An alpaca’s offspring (cria), if bred properly, will have a market value equal to or greater than that of its mother. The result of this is a compounding effect on the value of the herd.
Alpacas are scarce due to the size of the domestic herd and their slow rate of reproduction. A female is generally bred at 12-18 months of age and can only produce one cria per year. Viable twins rarely occur. This supports price stability.
The rate of growth in AOBA membership has consistently exceeded the growth of the domestic herd. There is a strong demand for elite natural fiber which is driving the industry to grow and improve the herd. If compared to the market for wool, 2,000,000 alpacas will be required in order to support a domestic fiber industry. Today there are approximately 80,000 alpacas domestically. Based on the historic herd growth rate of 10%-15% per year, the demand for quality alpacas should remain strong for many years.
Alpaca prices have remained stable for nearly twenty years. This is due, in part, to the single US registry (ARI) which is closed to imports. There is no risk of competing with cheap imitations and alpacas produce slowly. Finally, the tax benefits of owning and operating a for profit farming operation significantly enhance the return potential by allowing you to depreciate your farm alivestocktok purchases. For more information on the wealth building benefits of alpacas, go to www.alpacabanker.com.

Treating Deep Flesh Wounds

Spring is the perfect time for shearing alpacas. Like most ranchers, we plan a spring shearing day early enough to avoid the potential for heat stress caused by the early onset of high temperatures. Just as in prior years, we sheared the entire herd in a single day.
This year was no different and the job was progressing as expected. Toward the end of the day, the guys shearing the alpacas began to tire and in a single slip of the clippers, one of our females received a severe laceration to her hind leg.

Initially, the injury appeared to be a simple cut which a ranchhand quickly treated with Corona, a topical anteceptic salve and put her out in the paddock with her pals.

However, within a short period of time, the extent of the injury became more apparent. The laceration was so deep that the muscle was exposed but very little blood was present. Aside from the exposedure of deep tissue to the potential for infection, the lack of blood flow meant that a clot could not form to aid in closing the wound.

We contacted our veternarian who upon examination, told us by attempting to treat the wound with the salve, we elevated a simple procedure of suturing the wound to a quasi-surgical procedure that potentially required weeks of daily treatment.

Due to the extent of the injury (deep tissue exposure with lack of blood flow), the introduction of the salve created a rejection response resulting in the inability of the skin to knit together. The vet thoroughly cleaned deep inside and sutured the wound after trimming away a sizable portion of the skin along the edges of the laceration.
The alpaca was restricted to a closed pen area for a week to avoid re-opening the wound.

After two weeks, the sutures were removed to reveal a partially healed wound site that will still require weeks of continued observation and treatment to aviod infection.

The lesson in all of this is don't work beyond the point of fitigue when there is a posibility of injury to your alpacas or yourself and, never treat a deep tissue wound with anything other than a sterile cleaning agent such as Betadine solution and if possible, suture immediately.
It's a good idea to keep a supply of sterile sutures on hand. If you are not confident in your stitching abilities, call your vet immediately. Left untreated, severe wounds don't get better with time.

The AlpacaBanker

Accoyo! Apparel

I’ve never been a big fan of Peruvian Style alpaca clothing. The sweaters are so loud, bright, and heavy…that’s why I was so interested in starting our own alpaca clothing business. We took the fashion forward approach and developed our own line. The first time I felt baby alpaca, I was sold! The touch was amazing and there was hardly even an itch. When you see alpaca against other fibers, it’s not even comparable. For that reason alone, cashmere is the only competitor and that’s why people love buying alpaca.

Join us!

We are hosting a Breeding, Birthing and Aftercare seminar taught by the renowned alpaca veterinarian, Dr. Patrick Long. The 2-day seminar will be held at our farm in Northeast Ohio on July 15 and 16. Breakfast, Lunch and snacks will be served each day. The seminar will be hands on with labs, etc. The cost is $300 per person with 25% discount for registration before June 1. Join us! For more information go to info@abfschool.com or e-mail me at RainyB3@hotmail.com

Welcome to Alpacaville!

This is a blog that will be dedicated to educating the world about alpaca's and the businesses that goes along with them. We will have seven different posters, all bringing different experiences, information, and thoughts to this blog. The content will be fresh, interesting, and alpaca fun! Let me introduce our 7 posters:

Jamie- That’s me! I am part owner of our online alpaca store, Accoyo! in Los Angeles.

Jill- My sister! She is part owner and does all the computer graphic designs.

Gina- My sister-in-law! She’s part owner as well and is the programmer to our site.

Ben- My dad! He’s the president …the business man. His main focus belongs to Double Stuff Farm back in Ohio, where they breed Accoyo Alpaca’s.

Rainy- My mom! She’s the queen. She takes care of the farm and runs the farm store during the Christmas season.

Tim- My uncle! He owns Beachwood Creek Farm and is an alpaca financial consultant.

Anita- My aunt! She’s the owner/caretaker of the alpacas at Beachwood Creek Farm and also helps with Double Stuff Farm.

Feel free to comment and ask questions whenever you like…that’s what we’re here for!