Wrench, you bring up all of the things we have been saying here for years. That’s why we need to get the numbers of Alpacas up here in the U.S.
For the last 20 years the primary way of make money on Alpacas was by selling the Animals themselves amongst the Alpaca Breeders. You quickly run out of customers that way and as a breeder you need to bring more people into the business.
Now I and my wife are bringing in interest of the Alpacas into our area of Kentucky. And that’s work that may pay off in several years. (If the economy recovers!) I always emphasize that this is a long-term investment of time. money and energy. Do NOT expect a payoff in a year or two.
Our primary customers for our fleece and products at this time are “crafters” who tend to be small home-based business and people who like to knit and crochet with natural fibers.
There isn’t a meat market here in the U.S., primarily because there are so few animals to begin off with. Secondly there really isn’t all that much meat on them either.
Now I’ve talked to many of the local farmers and I’ve heard the horror stories of those who invested in Emu’s, Goats, etc. So they are justifiably cautious and more than a bit skeptical. That’s fine and I understand completely, but their reliance on Corn and Cows, (dairy and beef), as the crops that brig in the most money also means that their land is depleting itself of nutrients and they are relying more and more on artificial fertilizers and weed products.
That is really increasing their year-to-year costs and their profits are decreasing because of it. So they are looking for alternatives.
The advantages to the Alpacas is that you can have more of them per acre on average it’s six per acre, but some people have more. They don’t require much feed supplementation. I feed the girls one quarter cup each of “Alpaca Kiblets” a day. The boys don’t get anything extra. I only feed hay when the grass is marginal or during the colder part of the winter. A single square bale will feed twelve girls a for a day. Compare that to a bale or two for a single cow or a horse.
I also have to give them a worming shot once a month for the Meningeal worm which is carried here in the deer population.
Another of the reasons I chose to work with the Alpacas is that I don’t need heavy equipment such as a tractor and implement. I can do everything I need with a Utility Vehicle and a Wheel Barrow. If I do need to use heavy equipment I hire a local farmer or contractor to do that for me. (Which is tax deductible.)
I don’t know what alpaca meat tastes like, but if it’s anything like goat meat, and if rearing costs are similar, you could attempt to sell it as an upscale goat meat substitute to ethnic communities in surrounding states. West Indians, South Asians, Africans and many Muslim communities are partial to goat meat - and therefore, perhaps close substitutes - although for Muslim communities, you might need halal (similar to kosher) certification from some local Muslim religious figure.