The Alpaca Industry

In discussions with alpaca breeders the world over it is often that lifestyle is quoted as the reason they first purchased alpacas. For most it is an idyllic choice. However for everyone with alpacas there comes a point when decisions need to be made: How to move on the alpacas we no longer necessary in their breeding programs? How to finance those matings or new animals that we would like to buy? How to realise a return on the investment already made? more »

When Doug and I first started Forest Glen Alpacas we were faced with the same question many farms face, how do we get people to come to our farm? As with most farms getting started our budget was very small and we had very limited knowledge of where to get the answers. So the advice of those who sold us our first animals became very important. After all what worked for them should work for us right? What worked for us was a combination of their advice and our own intuition as you will see. more »

When times are tough and they donʼt get much tougher than today, how can we develop a marketing programme that will allow us to communicate to our target market, develop relationships with these targets and successfully develop our alpaca business. The alpaca market has always been competitive. We all have to compete not just against other alpaca breeders but also against other livestock and farming options and alternative investment strategies. How can we identify those groups we are most likely to sell to and then develop effective and ongoing communication mechanisms to ensure that not only our business is successful but also that our clientsʼ businesses are successful. This is essential if we want to develop repeat business. Breeders are in the alpaca industry for a variety of reasons: lifestyle, income generation, advancing the breed are but a few reasons. By focusing your alpaca venture and developing both marketing and sales strategies, this will enable you to have the greatest number of options in achieving your alpaca goals. more »

A snapshot of the Australian alpaca industry of 2006 and an interesting comparison to the industry today, both in Australia and the US in terms of what we are and where we need to go. more »