Alpaca farming for profit depends a lot on the breeding process. You can purchase a pregnant female for $20,000 and sell the baby for $10,000 to upcoming businessmen. If you count this as 15 productive years, female alpacas have a potential return of $157,000. The maintenance expenses in raising alpacas are quite low.

What are the downsides to keeping alpacas? Yes, we are a bit biased, but believe us when we say that the only real “downside” to keeping alpacas is the initial cost; because they're herd animals, you'll need to buy several to begin with and, of course, have sufficient land for them to live happily on.

Alpaca fiber is in demand and very desirable because of its many wonderful qualities. An adult alpaca produces 5 to 10 pounds of fiber per year. It sells from $2-$6 per ounce for raw fiber to $10 or more per ounce in a finished garment.