Investing

The Alpaca industry is driven on the selling of premium breeding stock. Premium stock demand premium prices, which keeps prices strong and stable. Female alpacas begin breeding at 14 to 18 months of age, while males begin at about 3 years. Females can produce 1 baby per year for up to 20 years. Alpacas are the only investment I know of that you can put in $20,000 and 3 years later reap your initial investment back in cria. Year after year you will continue to raise cria from that same female that you invested in years ago. That is my idea of a good investment.

The value of an alpaca fleece is the basis of the future economic market for alpacas. Even a small alpaca breeder with a small herd can expect to harvest his animal's fleece and sell their offspring with profit. Most can expect $2 to $6 an ounce from local buyers. Each animal can expect up to eight pounds of fleece a year.

Alpaca Registry

The alpaca registry is a very sophisitacted system that has been created to document and track bloodlines. Each animal is given a DNA test to determine its blood-type and establish parentage prior to registration. Alpaca babies cannot be registered unless their dam and sire are also registered and blood tested. The Owner will receive a certificate that documents the bloodlines and also serves as evidence of ownership. The value of this registry cannot be overstated. The alpaca registry is closed, therefore no alpacas from out of the country can join the registry unless they were previously registered with the alpaca registry of America (ARI). The effect of this closed registry is to keep the prices of alpacas stable, but in fact, prices continue to rise.