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Agistment is currently available to any customer who purchases alpacas from Island Alpaca Farm. Agistment allows our customers to invest in alpaca while they learn more, gain knowledge, and confidence. For a new buyer, this task can be daunting.

Through the agistment program, we will help you to learn what you need to know along the way. Should you wish to have a herd-sire in the mix, we can help you select the best one to suit your needs and budget, and help market your new herd. While you agist we can help you gain the confidence that you need to manage your alpacas at home.

We currently offer agisting for up to one year.

The advantages of agisting are several. One does not have the expense of building a barn and fencing etc. or have to provide daily care.

Passive Ownership: One can invest "passively" as you would any other financial investment, that is purchase alpacas that are bred, raised and marketed by the farm where they are boarded. With this method you do not participate in the day to day care of the animals. All or most of the decisions concerning herd management are left to the agisting farm. For Tax purposes the IRS considers the investor as "passive" and any tax deductions can only offset profits made in your alpaca business.

Active Ownership: Then you have the "active" investment where you board your alpacas but play an active roll directly in all decision making processes. That is, you are actively involved in important decisions such as breeding, showing, sales and marketing. You must document your involvement via phone logs, e-mail, travel mileage etc. In this case the IRS considers you an active breeder and you are entitled to all of the tax deductions for expenses and depreciation with one great advantage. The deductions can offset earned income from any other source such as salaries and commissions.

We offer free board for THREE months with the purchase of female alpacas from our breeding program. Fiber-quality alpacas will be agisted for up to 30 days free of charge if purchased alone or with other fiber quality animals. Daily board fees vary depending on the term from $5-$10 per day.

Alpaca breeding allows for tax-deferred wealth building. An owner can purchase several alpacas and then allow the herd to grow over time without paying income tax on its increased size and value until he or she decides to sell an animal or sell the entire herd.

Starting with just two females (one pregnant and one maiden) you can expect your herd to grow to about 13 alpacas (8 female and 5 males) at the end of five years assuming 50/50 male female births and no offspring sold or die during the period. Over a 10 year period with the added assumption of 80% live births your herd would grow to about 52. In my experience a >90% live birth rate is typical so this is a conservative number. Below is a one year cost comparison of raising alpacas on your property vs. agisting. Costs are rough estimates for comparison purposes only. Actual costs may be higher or lower.

As you can see the initial cash outlay is lower for agisting. One could use the money saved building barns and fences to purchase additional females and grow your herd faster, When you are ready to bring your alpacas to your property, you will have a well established breeding herd.