The Alpaca Industry

The alpaca “business” is still a game....right or wrong, we need to acknowledge it and not try to call it something else. We base breeding decisions on winnings in the show ring so that we can then produce a “winner” and sell our animals. It hasn’t changed in the ten plus years that we’ve been in the business. I wish I could share in the excitement of seeing our show system “coming back” and the numbers picking up at the shows. However, without apology, I cannot see the jubilation in perpetuating a system that doesn’t promote our alpaca industry as a livestock industry. It continues to promote it as an entertainment industry akin to the equine business. more »

Hobbiness, noun, a combination of “Hobby and Business.” Fiction. The word Hobbiness is not in the dictionary. This concept cannot exist in reality. In other words, your craft cannot be both a Hobby and a Business. You must decide whether you want to pursue a vocation as either a hobby or business, and this is the first concept that I advise people to choose when contemplating owning alpacas. It is “alright” to keep alpacas as a hobby. You do not need to turn it into a business. more »