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Kimberly Rassi's grandparents founded their family farm in Brooklyn Heights around 1920. They grew hot house tomatoes until they retired and left their farm to Kimberly's parents. In the early 1980s, Kimberly's parents began to transform their farm into a growing operation specializing in bedding plants, poinsettias, and tropical plants. Kimberly and her brother Jeff worked alongside their parents in the greenhouse business for the next twenty years, then continued together after their parents retired.
In 2003, Jeff retired also, and Kimberly began to search for a way to utilize the family acreage, earn a good income, and still have the free time she needed to be with her daughters. She soon discovered the alpaca business and became enthused with how it fit her lifestyle perfectly. She and her husband Javad began their foundation herd with a "vintage" herdsire from the 5P importation, a medium silver grey huacaya imported by Linda Berry Walker. We met with Kimberly recently, and listened as she outlined her passion for alpacas and a splendid business opportunity for those wanting to live a more relaxing lifestyle;
Vintage Alpacas is an alpaca breeder specializing in rare black and grey alpacas that we offer for sale to breeders across the United States and throughout the world. We offer boarding services for alpacas purchased from our farm, in addition to mobile stud service within the State of Ohio, and on a limited basis to states adjacent to Ohio. Vintage Alpacas is one of the few alpaca breeders in Cuyahoga County.
Raising alpacas is a great lifestyle for those wanting to avoid the mad rush and pressure of the business world. You can buy some land, raise alpacas, and make a nice income while setting your own hours. On one acre you can raise from five to ten alpacas, and two acres can accommodate between twenty and thirty. Alpacas eat about $.25 of grain and about $.25 of hay each day, so it costs roughly $3.00 a week to feed an alpaca that at the end of the year will sell for $10,000.00 for a lower quality animal to over thirty thousand dollars for high quality alpacas. It's not uncommon for top quality alpacas to sell for $30-$80 thousand dollars apiece. With each alpaca having one baby a year, it's easy to see how to develop a six figure income. There are also many significant tax advantages to raising alpacas.
I started out with three pregnant female alpacas, then purchased twenty more in the next year and a half at auctions all over the country. I focused on finding really good quality grey animals that were bred to quality herdsires and would result in a baby of high demand once grown. Now I have over forty alpacas, and each year only sell as many as I need to make the income I want.
In addition to breeding alpacas, I also offer some of my male alpacas for stud service. One is a pure Peruvian and is well known throughout the country. His stud fee is $2,000.00 and he usually gets about two jobs per month. He's a major source of income, and has definitely paid for himself over the past three years. As the backbone of my grey breeding line, he's probably worth around $150.000.00 were I to offer him for sale.
The alpaca business has been growing steadily for the past twenty years, starting in 1984 with our first imports. The price of these animals has remained relatively stable, and we're beginning to see the prices increase. The growth of the alpaca industry has been phenomenal as people search for ways to find more relaxing ways to provide for their families. One of the main factors in supporting the alpaca prices are our country's closed borders. Alpacas can no longer be imported into the United States, so if you want to get into the business, you have to buy from someone that already has registered alpacas. Presently there are approximately 80,000 alpacas in this country, but we need another 20 million to support an alpaca fiber industry. At the current rate of growth, it's going to be a least twenty years before our herd are built to this size, offering an amazing opportunity to those interested in becoming part of this business.
Alpaca farming offers not only an enjoyable career and lifestyle, but a growing financial opportunity, as well. Call Vintage Alpacas today, and don't forget to tell them The Advocate sent you!
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