The Value of Fiber Animals

There seems to be this general thought that males have little to no value. Unless he is in 10% considered good enough to be a herdsire. This thought process confuses me. Mainly because most of the research I've done has said that fiber is the reason alpaca farmers are in the business.

I've mentioned several times that I've found that when I speak with alpaca farmers, their focus is on breeding and winning show ribbons. Now that I'm researching the fiber industry, I'm finding more people who think like I do. That the birth of a cria, male or female, is a good thing. Because we are focused on the fiber and what we can do to sell the fiber. Since there are farmers who are starting to turn their attention to fiber, rather than shows, I think that the prices of alpacas are going to keep coming down as more animals begin to be viewed as "fiber animals".

Don't get me wrong, there will always be alpaca shows and show winning quality alpacas who will command higher prices. And I intend to participate in that end of the alpaca industry. That side is important because it helps generate publicity and interest in alpacas. But I think that males will stop being seen as "hay burners" as the focus shifts to the fiber end.

According to my math, in dry lot conditions, it will cost just under $550 per year to feed an alpaca. If that same alpaca is shorn of 5 lbs of fiber, it will cost approx $192 to process it. So this alpaca, if it doesn't need veterinarian services, it will cost it's owner just under $750 per year. In order to recoup those costs, obviously a female who has a cria a year has more than covered her cost. But what about the male? Let's say for argument sake 90% of the fiber comes back leaving you with 72 ounces. If you sold the yarn at $4.50 an ounce you're only going to make back $325. A loss of $425. That's why I decided to not stop at yarn and make end products like sweaters, scarves and rugs.

A typical alpaca sweater sells anywhere from $75 to $200. By using 8 oz of yarn to make a sweater, instead of making $36 selling yarn at retail prices, one can make a $ 56 dollar profit selling the sweater for $75 (wholesale). And if you sell the sweater for $125 (retail), you've made a profit of $ 105 per sweater. 72 ounces of yarn can make 9 sweaters. At $125 per sweater, you've made $945, a profit of $195. You might not get rich from a $195 profit but you aren't losing money either.

In my humble opinion, the value of fiber animals just went up.