One of the long-term goals for the alpaca industry, according to Cruz, is to provide quality fiber for the fiber market. “We’ve already seen enhanced fiber producing animals in the U.S. in the last ten years,” says Cruz. She attributes the increase in fiber quality to alpaca breeders being well-educated about the care of their animals and making good breeding decisions.
A top priority for Alpaca Breeders of the Rockies is to provide education for alpaca breeders. The association holds vet seminars to help vets learn about the care of alpacas. They provide seminars for breeders on pasture management, fiber care and neonatal care that include lab sessions where breeders deliver crias (baby alpacas). The AOBA also has an extensive library that alpaca breeders and owners can access.
Colorado State University has a camelid research program that can help alpaca owners deal with accidents and diseases that their local vet might not know how to treat. According to Cruz, most veterinarians can do routine care of alpacas, but specialized health problems could require a vet who has special training in dealing with alpacas.
Even with the alpaca business booming, Kurt Jones, Chaffee County Extension Agent for Colorado State University, says if a potential alpaca rancher comes to him for advice about the breed, he will counsel him about marketing skills rather than how to care for the animals. “This really is a touchy subject. In most of these markets you must be able to sell to other breeders, so you try to get new people involved. You have to sell breeding animals,” says Kurt. “I’m concerned that, just like the early llamas that were selling for large sums of money, it is difficult to sustain.”
Eventually alpaca breeders will need to market alpaca products. “The quandary for the alpaca community has been how to transition from a breeding industry to a secondary fiber industry, and to do so in a way that the fiber industry justifies the breeding and vice versa,” says David Stensland, fiber expert from New York and owner of Craftsman4fiber, a product development consulting service.
“It all works once they (alpaca owners) have made the connection between alpacas and textile products, and can then promote both of them to their customers, the idea being you can’t have one without the other,” says Stensland. The cycle, according to Stensland, is that cute and expensive alpacas sell alpaca sweaters that are luxurious but more affordable than an alpaca. Then alpaca sweaters, because you want to wear them all the time now, sell alpacas.
According to Cotton, alpaca owners and breeders are addressing the challenges of selling alpaca products by coordinating market campaigns on a national level and by high quality control of their animals. Alpaca owners and breeders often “have the resources to do things other ranchers don’t usually have,” says Cotton.
“They have custom trailers and sometimes even fly their animals to shows. At shows I’ve seen swamp coolers in stalls, misters so animals don’t get too hot, astro turf under the animals’ feet so they don’t have to stand on concrete, and temperature controlled water pails. The breeders can crossbreed to get different shades of fiber. There is evidence that shows that high levels of care improve the crimp and quality of fiber,” says Cotton.
So will alpacas continue to boom as the most economically viable exotic breed in the Arkansas Valley? Cotton thinks they will. “Alpacas are more consistently productive, but then they have a high-end entry level. You need at least $100,000 to get in, says Cotton.”
And for some exotic animal owners, it’s not all about profits. It’s about lifestyle and preserving a way of life they think is worth more than gold. They have many reasons for being in the business, whether its booming or busting.
For
Jones, even though llamas have not been a “get rich quick” investment,
they have provided him with a lifestyle that has enabled him to be a part of
preserving the west. “People come out west to enjoy the natural resources,
to be outside. With the llamas, I’m able to get people out and help them
develop a good land ethic. I’m a part of preserving the agricultural aspect
of the west, which has been a life-blood of the west down through history.”
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