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RETIREMENT & LIFESTYLE PLANNING | |
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| ISSUE - 21 - Summer 2005/2006 | |
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A'l pack a hobby when I retire
When Ron Raynor took early retirement in 1997, after “42 fantastic years” at Australia Post, his family insisted he found something else to do. “Otherwise I would have driven them nuts,” he said. He had already bought his first alpacas the previous year; the ensuing nine years have seen him expand his herd from four to 37 of the doe-eyed animals.
“It's a challenge to be learning new skills in your late 50s and 60s,” Ron says. “But alpacas were still a relatively new industry back in 1996, so they provided me with an opportunity to learn something new and at the same pace as everyone else.
“The interest in alpacas started in Australia about 20 years ago, driven by tax breaks,” he explains, “but when the law was changed most of the tax-break people got out of the industry.”
The stayers were those who loved the lifestyle, enjoyed doing something new or who saw commercial potential in alpacas. Nowadays Australia has the second largest herd in the world, although at 50,000 animals, we are a long way behind Peru's two million.
“Alpacas are quick maturing,” explains Ron. “You can mate the females (hembra) at 12 months and the males (machos) are ready at two years. The young are called cria, that's Spanish for small animal.
“Most income comes from the sale of animals for breeding, but in the long term the fleece will provide a return. Good male alpacas cut from four kilograms or more of wool, worth up to $25 per kilogram.
“When shorn, they look more like kangaroos,” he adds.
Only two per cent of males are retained as stud males: the WA Alpaca Association (Ron is regional marketing representative) strongly encourages producers not to breed from males of inferior quality. Surplus males are castrated and find a market as ‘wethers' to protect sheep flocks from foxes.
“Foxes can't handle them. The alpacas walk towards them making honking noises. Two or three sometimes combine and trap and stamp on a fox.
“They can also bluff a single dog,” he says, “but they have no defence against packs of domestic dogs.”
Ron started with four alpacas and over the years slowly built up to his current total of 37 animals: five adult males, 24 adult females and the rest, youngsters.
“I haven't sold many. But I provide a mating service, which is another income stream.”
Seven or eight years ago alpacas were worth from $10,000 to $25,000 each irrespective of quality. Now prices for females range from $3000 to $8000.
Alpacas eat pastures in much the same way as other grazing animals. But they do better than sheep on poor quality pasture, because the food spends longer in their stomachs.
“They get more nutrition out of the grass, convert food better and tend to do better than sheep,” Ron confirms. “They will eat coarse grasses where other animals won't.
“I feed pregnant animals a supplement mainly consisting of grain and other nutrients. They cost about $3 a week to feed on your own pasture, less on a broadacre basis.
“Alpaca are browsers so you have to take care that no poisonous plants are within reach,” he cautions.
Alpacas have soft two-toed feet, which make them gentle on pasture and sure-footed in rocky areas. Agriculture Departments recommend them for small properties because of that.
Ron says alpaca manure is a good as sheep manure except lower in nitrogen because they extract more during digestion. There are also fewer weed seeds because the food spends longer in their guts.
“Alpaca poo is fantastic on citrus,” he reveals.
He also admits that alpacas can easily become an all-consuming passion – but one that has the approval of his wife, Kay.
“If I have to be surrounded by animals, I'd rather they were alpacas than sheep or horses,” Kay says. “They are lovely, gentle animals.”
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