Alpaca Fiber: 7-8 crimps per inch
1. There is currently opportunity and great demand for natural fine fibers in high end fashion. Look up Loro Piana dot com and read about Vicuna, cousin to the Alpaca. These are not just pricey items; try a V-neck sweater for $4495, a classic bomber jacket for $8195 or a 38 inch topcoat for $20,495.
2. The market for fine fiber already exists. Look up any yarn website and typically the most expensive yarn will be 100% cashmere, regularly priced at $450 to $500 per pound. Due to overgrazing and pollution, the habitat of the Cashmere goat in China is in decline. This presents a ready-made market share throughout the 2020’s and 2030’s easily acquired by fine North American Alpaca.
3. Cheap man-made microfibers such as polyester and acrylic are polluting our oceans. These fabrics shed fibers as they are laundered, the fibers are washed into the sewage system, not captured by water treatment plants and ultimately end up in the ocean where they are consumed or inhaled by fish. “One in four fish sampled, sold for human consumption, has micro-plastic in it.” – UC Davis professor Susan Williams, Ph.D. Natural fiber such as Alpaca is made up primarily of the structural protein Keratin and will either biodegrade or be simply digested by fish as any other protein, thus causing no adverse effects to our ocean environments.
4. At 5 to 6 Alpacas per acre, 5 to 10 pounds of fiber per Alpaca and $100 to $150 per pound for raw fiber, Alpacas create the most dollars per acre of Colorado land over any other form of livestock or agriculture. Colorado’s natural arid climate and cool nights cause the Alpaca to grow fiber quickly. The faster fiber grows, the finer it is, giving Colorado Alpaca breeders a natural advantage over other fibers and Alpaca owners in other states.
5. Your small business Alpaca startup is protected. Do to physiological reasons, the female Alpaca cannot be artificially inseminated. Add this to the fact that the North American Alpaca Registry has been closed to the addition of foreign stock since 1998 and you have small business protections not found in any other industry. You can be assured no multi-national corporation will sweep into your hometown and take away your business. Just think of all the mom-and-pop retailers put out of business by the likes of Wal-Mart, the small neighborhood bookstores destroyed by Amazon and all the family-run restaurants devastated by any one of the many national restaurant chain conglomerates that would have liked to have such protections.
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***)6. When compared to all other forms of livestock, Alpacas are incredibly easy to keep and manage. Alpacas cannot hurt you. They are quiet. They don’t smell. They are a hearty breed and not prone to illness or disease. They don’t challenge fences. They are easy on pastures and thus ideal for small acreages. They are such easy keepers that we like to say anyone ages 8 to 80 can confidently manage Alpacas.
7. It may be folklore, but it is said sometime around the 1950’s in the American automotive industry, the idea of planned obsolescence was invented. This is the idea of why should we make a car that lasts 20 years when we can make one that lasts 5 years and then sell four times as many cars. Planned obsolescence is currently the backbone of the clothing and fashion industries who actually would rather have you buy new products every season. I see the pendulum in this trend beginning to swing the other way, especially in the middle class where I think as they continue to lose more disposable income, most will seek to buy quality garments that last. Alpaca fibers are commonly 3 to 4 inches in staple length with some producing 5 to 6 inches. A longer staple translates to a more durable yarn that resists unraveling and piling, a more durable yarn results in garments whose useable life is measured in years or even decades, not seasons.
8. Grow your own fruits and vegetables. By now everyone has heard of organic farming and The Eat Local movement. The varieties of produce purchased at the grocery are not chosen for best taste or highest nutritional content, they are chosen because those are the ones that travel well, ripen on the way to market and display the least amount of bruising. New intensive agricultural techniques using raised beds produce the same amount of food using less labor and water while reducing the need for weeding using about 20% of the space as conventional row methods. Because Alpacas digest their forage three times, Alpaca dung is by far the best form of nitrogen you can add to your spent garden soil, far more beneficial and less labor intensive than planting winter cover crops.
9. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have risen from about 315 ppm in 1958 to nearly 405 ppm in 2015, an increase of more than 22% in just 57 years. In years past it was thought the only things that naturally absorbed atmospheric carbon dioxide were our oceans and trees. As it turns out, healthy soils, rich in microorganisms that convert carbon dioxide and play a part in binding it to minerals, create a carbon sink. Here in Colorado our soils are notoriously poor, rocky and full of clay. By placing down a layer of Alpaca manure in your pastures each fall, you can increase your topsoil by a half inch each year. After a few years, not only will your pastures be more productive, the dramatic increase in beneficial microorganisms found in your new soil could render your Alpaca lifestyle carbon neutral.
10. I read a disappointing article, “What nobody told me about small farming”, (2/10/2015, salon dot com), that lamented the fact that 90% of small farms in our country are predominantly funded by one or more of the farm’s owners working another job off the farm. In October 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved Title III of the JOBS Act, giving non-accredited investors the right to invest in companies via crowdfunding. That means investment dollars, previously locked up in personal savings, IRAs and investment accounts that could once only be used to finance large companies in the public market, can now be made available to fuel small entrepreneurial startups like your new Alpaca business. Investors will be able to buy and sell shares of your little operation through crowdfunding platforms like Crowdfunder and AngelInvestor.
Please View Our Additional Alpine Ranch blog posts:
Superfine Natural FibersThe Making of a Cornerstone Foundation Female, A 12 Year JourneyVote With Your $Thank YouAlpacas at Alpine Ranch is home to 50+ huacayas. Breeding quality Alpacas since 2004, we specialize in Foundation Females, Starter Packages & Stud Services for sale. 27 miles S/E of Denver, 32 miles N/E of Colorado Springs, due east of Castle Rock off Hwy 86, located in Elizabeth, Colorado.